A Face on the Wall
by NakanoHana
Summary: Axel is a well-off college kid with no dreams, no ambitions, and no commitment. He parties, he drinks, and above all, he gets laid. No exceptions. But little did he know that a single night could change his life forever. All it took was a cute blonde and too much booze. mpreg, rated for language and themes of sex, angst, and abuse
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't an unusual morning for Axel. Waking up in bed with a person he didn't recognize. But it certainly had been a while since it was a new person entirely.

As the redhead slowly stirred into consciousness, he glanced over at the other person curiously. He must have really scored last night. It was a blond boy with cutely ruffled spiky hair. Relatively thin and pale, but even in the dark, Axel could still see the wiry muscles on his arms and the toned look to his upper torso. This he observed still in the midst of waking up, and as he sat up in bed, he looked over his most recent lay proudly.

Then it hit him. The boy looked really young. Was this kid even legal?

_Shit! Please don't tell me I was drunk enough to screw a minor!_

It had happened once before, in a situation very much like this. At one of Larxene's parties, which were world-renown on the college campus for being wild, exciting, and providing a heaping helping of alcohol. Luckily for Axel, the kid he had brought home that night was 17, which was close enough, in his book. And the girl had been very understanding. Though how a high schooler had gotten past Xaldin and Lexaeus without being noticed was still beyond him...

Axel didn't have long to wonder, though. So enough, the blond opened his eyes; those blue, blue eyes. In his drunken stupor, Axel could already see what had attracted him to the boy so much. He had a cute face and the most gorgeous eyes. Just like Sora's, now that he thought about it...

The boy smiled sleepily up at him, then groaned softly as he began to stretch out. Axel chuckled, rolling over onto his side.

"Morning, sunshine."

After a moment, the young boy sat up as well, wincing slightly from the soreness of his backside.

"Owww. God, does it always hurt this much?"

That made the redhead blink. "Have you never done this before?"

The blond shook his head, but still continued to smile. He ran his fingers over Axel's bicep lightly, moving a little closer so that he could snuggle against the redhead. "Nope. You were my first. It was pretty amazing."

Damn. He'd been a virgin. Axel looked down at him nervously. "Just out of curiosity, how old are you, kid?"

The boy frowned slightly. "I'm not a kid. I'm eighteen." Axel breathed a sigh of relief at that. He then got out of bed and immediately started looking for his clothes. He knew when he had found the boy's things because they were at least half his size in general.

"I'm glad you liked it. Now, I've got class in less than an hour, so I'm gonna have to go. There's food in the fridge if you want some, and there's a phone in the hall if you need to call a ride. It was nice meeting you...?"

"Roxas." The boy frowned again. "So you'll call me later?"

Axel paused at the door to his closet. "Huh?"

"You'll call me later, or something? Do you need my number?"

The redhead blinked. "Why would I need your number?" he asked honestly.

"Aren't you my boyfriend now?"

"BOYFRIEND?" Axel practically yelped. Axel Flynn and commitment did not go together well. No, Axel had had enough psychotic girlfriends in the past to teach him that it was better not to get attached. Roxas was a stranger to him; some kid he'd laid in a drunken haze when he probably couldn't even remember his own name. Maybe he'd be friends with the kid, but dating? That just sounded like a nightmare.

"Roxy, baby," he said as smoothly as possible, coming over to the boy's side of the bed and patting his head softly. "I'm glad you thought it was good. And you seem like a cool kid and all...But I just don't think I can do that."

The blond gaped at him, his eyes suddenly morphing to hurt and his lip quivering just slightly. "W-Why not?"

"Kid, it's not you. It's me. I'm just not the type to get tied down." Axel soothed, rubbing the boy's shoulder comfortingly. He grimaced internally at the thought of having screwed one of the clingy, romantic types, but kept a warm, apologetic smile on his face. "At least not yet. You understand, right?"

"I-I can't believe it." Roxas's shoulders hunched and he brought his hands up as he started to sob, shying away from Axel as he curled in on himself. "N-No. No, you told me it would be alright! You told me you loved me!"

Axel winced. Damn not being able to remember that night!

"Roxy, I didn't even know your name until a few minutes ago."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because Roxas let out an even louder sob and pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them tightly.

Axel didn't know what to do. "Babe..."

Amid the sobbing, Axel heard the strained whisper. It was both pained and disbelieving. "I just fucked a guy who didn't know my name..."

It sounded so broken, like Axel had killed his puppy or something. The redhead was really at a loss now. He felt bad for the kid, he really did; he'd never seen someone so upset like this before. All of his partners, drunk or not, had never complained the next morning. If Axel was lucky, they didn't steal anything after he left either. But Roxas sounded like all of his hopes had been resting on this, and that now things would never get better. Some people said your first time was supposed to be important, but Axel never took that seriously. It was such a joke really!

The redhead wanted to comfort the boy, and reassure him somehow, but he was not going to give up his single streak for anyone yet, and certainly not for a boy he just met. Glancing at his watch, Axel winced at the time. He needed to get going for class.

"Listen, Rox," he said, as nicely as he could. The boy seemed ridiculously delicate now. "I have to go to class. Like right now. You can leave your number if you want, but I just don't want you to get your hopes up. You seem like a nice kid. Maybe we could be friends or..." What else they could be, he didn't want to guess. He hoped that if they had to be friends, it would be the facebook type that chat with you in few word sentences maybe once or twice a week. Hopefully the kid wouldn't be a facebook stalker type.

Roxas looked up at him, his eyes suddenly burning with furious tears. He pushed Axel's hands away and shoved the covers off, looking for his clothes in a huff. Axel wanted to chuckle as he watched the boy stomp around, but held silent. Didn't this kid have any dignity?

"Roxy, baby-"

"SHUT UP!" the blond yelled as he hurriedly dressed himself. He found a pair of pants on the floor that were clearly Axel's and chucked them hard at his face. To the boy's limited satisfaction, they made contact.

"Rox-"

"LEAVE ME ALONE! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

Axel couldn't argue with that. When he just shrugged, that seemed to be the boy's breaking point. One hard slap to the cheek and door slam later, Axel was left standing, bewildered, in his apartment, half-dressed, half-awake, and in desperate need of a drink already.

And it was only 9:30 a.m.


	2. Chapter 2

Sora vowed never to speak to him again. Axel could barely believe that he hadn't seen the resemblance between the two boys right from the get go. Roxas and Sora had a similar girlish face and the exact same blue, piercing eyes that had always attracted the redhead to his friend, at least slightly. The boys were about the same height as well; they had the same slight frame and spiky hair, though Sora was a brunet and Roxas was a blond. Axel sighed to himself heavily. He supposed he deserved this on some level.

Apparently, after Roxas had left in a huff, he'd immediately told Sora. That sent the brunet marching right up to Axel the next day of class, earning the redhead a harsh bruise on his left cheek. He told Axel he would never speak to him again; warned him to stay away from Roxas, before he stomped off again, dragging a mildly bewildered Riku behind him. Axel had just stood there, blinking, for a few moments. But class waits for no man, so soon he'd been off again.

Axel stumbled his way to class and stared blankly at the wall through all of it, wondering. He'd never met any guy as emotional as Roxas before. He just couldn't believe the kid was _that _upset about having sex with him...Okay, so he did lose his virginity, but it wasn't that big of a deal. At least, to Axel it wasn't.

He still couldn't remember the details of that night very well. He _did _remember losing a bunch of cash in a couple games of poker, but nothing about how he had met the blond or how the kid could have possibly convinced himself that it was anything more than a one-night stand. Never, in all his lays, drunk or otherwise, had Axel ever used the "L" word. At all. No amount of booze had ever changed that, either...

_What did I do? _He wondered, feeling vaguely troubled now. He wanted to ask Roxas about it, but there was no guarantee that the boy would see him, or that Sora wouldn't clock his sorry ass for even trying to get close.

_Damn it all..._

"Mr. Flynn?"

Axel blinked, realizing he'd been caught spacing. He was leaning heavily on his arms on his desk, staring at the wall which was in the complete opposite direction of the professor's desk. Of course Mr. Valentine had caught him...

Axel gaped a little, shying back slightly as his professor leaned forward. "If you're quite done sleeping, would you mind explaining to me what Kirkland means when he uses the term 'hegemonic masculinity?'"

The redhead finally seemed to regain himself, looking back defiantly into the man's cold, glistening eyes.

"Not a clue, Teach..." he replied confidently, leaning back so that he was resting his head on his arms against the back wall. The chair tipped back slightly, as Vincent groaned.

"Professor, Mr. Flynn. You will refer to me as Professor Valentine. I didn't get a doctoral degree so that you could call me 'Teach.'" The man turned away and stalked back to the board, ignoring the wide variety of stares he and his least favorite student were receiving. "And I also did not acquire that degree so that I could babysit slackers like you. If you find this class so boring, than I see no excuse as to why you have the lowest grade." Several of the students nearby snickered softly.

"Don't patronize me, old man," Axel replied, tone thoroughly cocky and calm as he leaned back further. "I pay a lot of money to go to this school. I don't come here to be your punching bag. I'm not paid to be your punching bag. So lay off."

Vincent sat down in his chair and rubbed his temples with growing irritation.

"If you truly cared about the money spent on your education, perhaps you would actually apply yourself to the work." The professor sighed heavily. "Just go. I don't have enough coffee in my system to deal with your antics today."

Axel nodded stiffly, getting up and gathering his books back into his bag. "Don't mind if I do." Just as he reached the door, he grinned back over his shoulder and gave a little wave. "Bye, Teach. It's been fun."

He didn't stick around to hear the murmurs and whispers. Really, who gave a flying fuck?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Axel spent the rest of the day on the grass, looking up at the deep blue sky. There wasn't a cloud in it, as far as he could see, but his own thoughts made up for the lack of clouds.

His mind kept drifting back to Roxas; remembering those sad blue eyes when he told the boy it just couldn't be. Was his heart really so easily broken?

Axel had never met the boy before, despite all the time he had known Sora. He had practically grown up with Sora and Riku; they played so often in the park as kids, that he felt he could walk there blind-folded easily. Never once had Sora mentioned having a little brother, but then again, Axel did always see him staring at families in the park with wistful looks. He and Riku both knew that the brunet was a little messed up, after his mother and father had gotten divorced. Cloud had kept Sora and remained in the area, after which Axel had met him and Riku, and they'd become fast friends...

Maybe that was it! Sora didn't like talking about the divorce or how it made him feel. He always seemed to keep it inside, showing everyone else the mask of a happy, bubbly little boy. Axel and Riku could always see through it, but because of their position, they could never do anything about it. Maybe, in pushing the sadness to the back of his mind, Sora had tried to forget the pain of losing his littler brother as well?

Well, Axel had a good enough answer for that, and that was the bruise slowly turning more purple on his cheek. He knew Riku would still talk to him, but the silver-haired boy was dating Sora, which meant that they couldn't hang out if he and Sora were together. The redhead sighed heavily again, this time turning his attention to the green grass below. He couldn't look at the sky for too long. The deep blue made him remember; made him feel too guilty.

_Whatever._

After several hours of mulling it over, Axel finally decided to just brush it off. Sure, it hurt losing a best friend, but he wasn't really in the wrong here! Roxas slept with him intentionally, or so he had claimed, and so that had to mean he knew what he was getting into, right? The redhead nodded firmly. Of course it did!

He couldn't address either boy's problems unless they were honest with him, and at the moment, it didn't look as though either boy would be talking to him for a long, long time. He would just let it go, like he let go of every other girl or boy he had slept with. Just let the problems fade away, until the time came for them to be fixed. If they never did, then so be it. But Axel was through moping and worrying.

It wasn't his fault.


	3. Chapter 3

And the angsting train just keeps on rolling. Sorry about the length of some of these chapters. They'll get longer soon, but like I said, except for maybe flashbacks and talks, this will all be from Axel's perspective. He's an asshole, but there could be a reason for it. :)

* * *

Axel saw Roxas around campus a few weeks later. He was getting some food from the same line in the cafeteria at the time, just the line Axel happened to be in. Right behind him, too.

The blond boy tried not to acknowledge him, but he just stood there so confidently, as usual. Like he owned the place. Axel always thought that when you're born with hair like that, why not stand proudly? It was better than being self-conscious about it. He heard the small, irritated voice in front of him.

"Axel." It was an annoyed whisper of acknowledgement and nothing more. But Axel saw the opportunity to mess with him and took it gladly.

"Roxy," he replied, loudly but with a similar tone. Roxas seemed to flinch at the nickname, and Axel was sure he would turn around and give him the bitching of a lifetime, but surprisingly the blond held silent. For a while...

"I-I didn't expect to see you here." Well, aside from the small stutter breaking through, that was legitimate. The campus was pretty large; if you didn't make plans with people, you were pretty much guaranteed never to see them. And schoolwork always kept everyone fairly busy. Axel shrugged casually.

"Can't say I was expecting it either, kid. But you look...better." If you could call bags under the eyes and pale skin an improvement. But it had been dark the last time they saw each other. Axel wanted to be nice, if nothing else, but he couldn't bother to stress over this kid.

Roxas scowled and actually turned to face him this time. "I'm not a kid, damn it! But thanks; everything has been great without you around, you big jerk!" The sarcasm was evident, and for a moment, the redhead vaguely wondered if there was something more to it. But the boy's voice was getting louder and people were starting to stare at them curiously. Reluctantly, Axel put on a small smile.

"Listen, Roxas, I'm sorry if you were hurt by that whole thing. I honestly didn't mean to upset you. But you chose that, so you have to accept the consequences. You-"

He was cut of by another harsh slap to his cheek. Great, just after the first one had healed too.

Now almost everyone was looking at them. Roxas's eyes were furious and quickly filling with tears, though none had spilled over onto his face yet. He looked up at Axel with such hurt and misery that it almost melted the other boy's heart. Almost.

"Maybe it was my fault for going with some slob I met at a party. Maybe I did deserve this. But maybe you should stop, for even one second, and think about someone else for once! Instead of being some jackass, lying whore!"

That was tearing it. No body had the gall to call Axel Flynn a whore, even if that description wasn't too far from the truth. Axel wouldn't hear of it.

He had promised himself he'd never hit a girl, but boys were a different story. Axel grabbed Roxas's wrist and pulled him closer, ignoring the small yelp of pain and the eyes that changed from angry to frightened in less than a millisecond. The blond looked away, like he was expecting to get hit, but Axel grabbed his face and made him look at him. Even as the noise rose in the cafeteria, he spoke loudly and clearly.

"Now you listen, Roxas, and you listen good. I don't know what your problem is and, frankly, I don't care. But it takes a whore to know a whore. Remember that the next time you go calling petty names, because you're no perfect little angel yourself."

With that, he let go of the boy's face and shoved him roughly backwards. Roxas stumbled back awkwardly on his leg before he fell against a display case filled with soup, sending all the cans flying. Axel didn't flinch when he fell, or even react when the murmurs in the cafeteria rose to a grating level. He was pissed beyond pissed, and he didn't care if the whole world knew it.

"Roxas!"

Sora rushed from the door right to his brother's side, helping the boy sit up and leaning him against him, as he frantically checked him all over. Other people came to help and they all stopped to ask, "Is he alright?"

"What happened?"

"Someone go find Professor Grimhilde! Her office is the next building over!"

After checking the bruises on his back, Sora looked to his brother's pained face worriedly. "Roxas, does anything hurt?"

The blond nodded, grimacing. "My leg..."

"Just your leg?"

He nodded again, whimpering slightly as he tried to get up, then fell back slightly. Sora looked more relieved at that, and he motioned for Riku to come over and help him. Riku picked the boy up bridal style and carried him carefully, shooting Axel a strange, cryptic look that he couldn't make out before leaving the food area. Roxas leaned into the older boy's chest and looked away, not daring to make contact with Axel a second time.

The redhead watched them leave before he saw Sora stand slowly, not even looking at him. He had no way to explain, and strangely, he didn't feel like he wanted to anyway.

"Axel."

The redhead gave him a small pout. "What?"

The brunet still didn't look at him, but his voice was perfectly calm.

"I know he provoked you, and he's fucked up plenty on his own, but I'm asking you as a former friend. Just leave be. He's been through enough..."

Axel scowled at him, crossing his arms firmly. "Oh please. That little brat hasn't been through shit!"

"I'm not going to say anymore," the brunet said simply. "Roxas wouldn't want me to, and until he does, I'm not gonna argue with you. But Axel, you are an idiot and an asshole. Someday, it's going to come back to bite you in the ass." He chuckled a little. "What I wouldn't give to see that."

And with that, the younger boy left. The quiet that had settled in while the two of them talked was being replaced by small murmurs of curiosity, and Axel scowled at them in turn, silencing them.

"Don't you vultures have anything better to do?"

Everyone went back to their own little worlds, and Axel turned back to the line, grabbing a burger and fries before he left as well. He was not oblivious to the stares.

From that day forward, Roxas avoided him at all costs. And soon enough, Axel stopped hearing about him altogether.


	4. Chapter 4

Yay! It's a two in one day special! ^w^ What a twist! lol

* * *

4 Years Later:

Axel got off at the third subway stop just like Demyx told him. He had a job interview with the head of the blond's company, to be the writer for their monthly newsletter magazine. It wasn't exactly what he had pictured when he first started college, but it would put money on the table. He wanted to move out of his father's house soon, and an apartment would cost more than he could make in any small scale retail job. Plus, he had one student loan left that he'd yet to pay off.

He made his way up to the company building, which surprisingly was only a block away from the station. That would make it a hell of a lot easier to make the commute 5 days a week. Demyx met him at the front, waving with that big, stupid grin he always wore.

"Hey, man! Glad you could make it!"

The redhead took one look at the building, the big, bright letters that spelled N.A.A., the National Airway Association, and looked back at his still smiling friend.

"Answer me one question, Dem. How did you manage to snag a job here?" Demyx was anything but professional and Axel always pegged him as an ocean person. He always seemed to love the water and the animals that lived there, but here he was, working for a prestigious pilot union. The blond gave him a more sheepish smile.

"I-I kind of worked here before." When Axel gave him a look, he replied, "Remember that unpaid internship I did one summer ago? They liked me so much, they asked me to come back and work for them. It's not much, but I gotta eat, you know?"

Axel nodded. Amen to that. Only Demyx had it worse, because his mom kicked him out after college. For him, it was really work to live. It was a bit of a shame though. Axel could see him living it up as a marine biologist someday, once he had the money and freedom to pursue another job.

"Well," the redhead sighed, "Better get in there and see if they'll take a second college jagoff."

Demyx stuck out his tongue at that, but quickly led him inside. It only had a couple floors, and no one with an actual office seemed to have a window, but it would do. He figured Demyx would lead him to the executive, but was told he was actually out of the country on business. Instead, he was led to a plump, nicely dressed woman, who Demyx introduced at the woman in charge of hiring.

"Axel, this is Marina." The woman shook his hand and smiled pleasantly, and the two immediately started the interview. The questions were simple, and with the redhead's confidence, he answered them all without fear. After some negotiating, particularly that he tie his hair back a little and use make up to cover his tattoos on business trips, the deal was struck, and Axel became one of the company's few but proud writers. His job was fairly simple: go to events and take statements, write about them in the company newsletter. Among other things, of course. Marina promised to keep him busy in other ways. He had to earn that pay somehow.

After the terms were discussed, Axel left, leaving the rest of his day free. He agreed to begin work on Monday, and it was currently a Friday afternoon. Demyx still had work to do, but Axel decided he would explore downtown and see what there was to do.

And so, for the rest of the day, Axel checked out the restaurant and shopping districts. Traverse town was known to be a beautiful place at night; lit up with all sorts of glowing lights. There were also supposed performances on the weekends; bands would come to the restaurants and play. It seemed like a pretty cool place to be. Axel smiled when he found an old, small music store, which he popped into to browse around. Ever since napster, hardly any record stores were around anymore, and if they were, they weren't thriving. Store bought stuff was now constricted to Best Buys and Walmarts. It was sad.

Axel checked his watch and saw that it was 5:50. He figured he wouldn't see everything in one day, because then the town would get boring fast. Maybe he'd find a nice little coffee shop and get something easy for dinner. His father was working late tonight, so he wasn't needed home too soon...

Just as he was leaving the store, Axel heard a yell from up the street.

"Kairi, come back here!"

He saw a little girl running back across the crosswalk nearby, obviously trying to get a stuffed animal she'd dropped. He didn't see the person who was calling her, but he did see the car that was speeding towards the intersection, not looking like it was going to stop any time soon.

"KAIRI!"

Slinging his bag over one arm, Axel dashed into action, running for the girl just as she grabbed her doll. The little girl looked up, blinking uncomprehendingly at the vehicle barreling towards her, but luckily, Axel managed to grab her in time, pulling both of them out of the way. Axel turned so that they landed on the curb on their sides, groaning at the impact.

As the car sped away, he swore he could hear, "Watch the road, you asshole!" But whether that was an onlooker or the driver himself, he didn't know.

Axel looked down at the little girl, seeing her beginning to cry softly. He liked kids well enough, but usually he didn't know how to deal with them. Especially when they started bawling.

"Hey now, it's okay," he said soothingly, pressing a hand to her cheek. The prettiest blue eyes he had seen in a while rose to meet his, and he was taken aback by the sense of deja vu.

"M' scared," the girl mumbled, pressing her face into his chest as she began to sniffle. Axel sat up and helped to set her on her feet, brushing her off carefully. He then also noticed her red hair, a shade or two lighter than his, and the little worn pink overalls she wore. She was carrying a doll that looked like a big black bug or something, with glowing yellow eyes and antennae and clawed little hands and feet.

"You don't need to be scared. The car's gone, and you're okay." Axel noticed the hint of red from where she fell on the side of her knee. He looked back into bright blue eyes and wiped a few of those tears away. "Come on. You're okay. Can you smile for me? Even just a little?"

There was a small twitch as her lips pulled up a little at the corners, but that was all he got.

Just then, a whole crowd of people seemed to flood over, asking if he and the girl were alright and asking if they needed an ambulance. The little redhead snugged up against him, hiding her face against the rush of strangers, and he nodded slightly.

"I'm fine. She's fine. Now could you guys back up a little? You're scaring her."

"Kairi!"

A person pushed through the crowds of people and hurled himself over to the two of them, pulling the now sobbing girl into his arms.

"Daddy!"

"Kairi, don't you ever do that again! You scared me half to death!"

His head was bowed as he hugged her, but Axel was sure recognized that hair from somewhere. It was blond and spiky and...

Oh...

"Roxas?" That was why the voice sounded so familiar...

The blond head raised to look at him, and instantly he was met with surprised, wide blue eyes.

"A-Axel..."


	5. Chapter 5

"W-What are you doing here?" Soft, vulnerable blue eyes looked up at him. They had changed from surprised to frightened once again, as though after all this time, he thought Axel was going to hurt him. The redhead rolled his eyes at that, standing up and helping Roxas up with him.

"Killing time. And apparently saving this kid..." He indicated Kairi, who seemed to perk up a little at the mention of her name. Axel looked at her again and was once again struck by her short red curls and the piercing blue of her eyes.

"I take it she's yours?" he asked calmly, looking back up at the blond. In all truth, he felt very far from calm. The red hair, the blue eyes. He was wondering whether it was just a coincidence.

Roxas held the little girl close to him, looking up at the redhead nervously. The air seemed to get much more awkward, even as people began to file away from the crowd. Axel knew that Roxas didn't like him, but he couldn't imagine why the boy was so clearly afraid of him. He'd just saved his daughter, for cripes sake!

"Y-Yeah." They stood there for a moment awkwardly, with Kairi looking from one man to the other curiously. Roxas barely raised his eyes as he added, "Thank you, by the way."

"No problem, kid." Axel smiled a little when he saw a small, angry flare in Roxas's eyes. It was good to see he still had some backbone in there.

More time passed between them, but the two men didn't move or saying anything more for a while. Roxas seemed to be struggling with something internally; he kept glancing over at Axel quickly, then looking away in the next moment. Axel was starting to get annoyed with it pretty quickly. He wanted to tell the kid to just spit it out already. He clearly wanted to say something. But the redhead kept silent, waiting patiently for Roxas to organize his thoughts. Thankfully he had nothing better to do anyway...

Finally, Roxas seemed to come to a decision. He looked up hesitantly. "I-I was wondering...would you like to come home with us for dinner?"

Axel blinked. That was the last thing he'd expected.

"Y-You don't have to if you don't want to," the blond quickly added. "I-I just wanted to thank you for saving Kairi... I was going to make chicken and pasta...if that's okay." With that, Roxas looked away shyly, a light blush tinting his cheeks.

This through Axel off completely. Granted, he had left the past between them behind years ago and moved on, but it was hard to believe the kid who proclaimed to hate him so much was now inviting him home for a home-cooked meal. Even if he was trying to be polite, it still would be awkward as hell.

In an effort to make light of it, Axel chuckled, causing the blond before him to raise an eyebrow.

"You don't need to do anything for me, Roxas. I was just trying to be helpful. It doesn't cost you anything."

Then Kairi stepped forward and took his hand, surprising him. Her hands were so much smaller than his, but they grasped tightly as any grown person's could. She looked up at him with big puppy dog eyes and smiled a charming little smile.

"Yeah! Come home with us!" she begged, tugging his hand closer to her. Axel was awed by her cute little voice, feeling himself even more hard-pressed to say no. "You're cool!"

Roxas put on a small, helpless smile, nodding his approval.

"I think she likes you," he said in a small voice. It was so soft, Axel could barely hear it. The blond quickly looked down again and turned around, taking Kairi's hand in his. "Are you coming?" he asked, turning over his shoulder slightly.

Axel thought about it for a moment, and quickly decided it'd be unwise to turn down the promise of free food. Plus, he was curious about how Roxas had ended up with a daughter, and a redhead at that. Wasn't that a recessive gene?

"Sure."

As they walked down the street to the subway, Axel began to think about all the possibilities that that entailed. Maybe Roxas had adopted? But who adopts a kid right out of college? Taking a closer look at the blond, Axel saw that he was looking a little on the messy side. His spikes were always in disarray, of course, but they seemed more deflated and even tangled now. There were heavy bags underneath those blue eyes, and Axel swore he could read into them and see pain and exhaustion in them clearly. He was just a little taller than he had been back then, but he was still very thin.

Axel wondered how the blond had changed since college. Now seemed like a good time to ask as any.

They walked in silence until they reached the underground, when they swiped their passes and headed toward the trains bound for Twilight Town. Axel raised an eyebrow at this.

"You're living in Twilight Town?"

Roxas looked back at him and shyly nodded.

"I moved there with Sora when I was 18."

"Oh."

They boarded and sat in the little seats, both watching as Kairi gaped out the windows at people passing by. The doors closed and the car began to move, and after he'd taken put a little band aid on his daughter's knee, Roxas sat down across from Axel, gazing out the window. When they came to one stop, Kairi got up and walked across to Axel's side, settling herself in the seat right next to him. Axel blinked when she snuggled up to him and proceeded to close her eyes, but it didn't bother him. He actually thought she was very cute.

He wanted to ask Roxas-

"We're here."

Axel looked up, thrown off slightly as the car pulled to a stop. He checked the time and saw that it was 6:35. He would have to be home at some point, but luckily he also lived in Twilight Town, which was relatively small. It wouldn't take very long to reach his place from anywhere in town.

He stood and lifted the little girl into his arms, giving Roxas a small smile.

"Lead on."They left the station and made their way down towards the park. Axel smiled as they passed it, remembering all the times he had played with Sora and Riku at the sandlot. He wondered if he and Roxas could have gotten along as kids too, but shook it off as silly. Roxas was probably as much of a stubborn crybaby then, probably more so, than he was back when they had met. They would've fought worse than cats and dogs...

_Who am I kidding?_

Roxas stopped at the house Axel always remembered was Sora's. He hadn't talked to the brunet in years, and even Riku had stopped hanging out with him over time. He wondered what the two of them were up to.

"So how're Sora and Riku these days?"

Roxas jumped a little, almost dropping his house key. Axel rolled his eyes at how skittish he was. It was just a simple question, after all.

The blond blushed faintly and quickly returned to unlocking the door.

"Sorry. Wasn't expecting that," he mumbled quietly. "They're fine. Did you know...they're engaged?"

Axel had to smile openly at that. "Really?"

"Yes. T-They've been since the summer. The wedding will be around the middle of October. Are you...?" He stopped there, looking down a tad guiltily. Axel could guess why. He wanted to ask if Axel would be there, and of course, he wouldn't. Sora and Riku wouldn't even speak to him. Why would they invite him to the wedding?

Axel didn't say that though. "Not unless they'll take an asshole like me."

Roxas frowned, but said nothing in reply. He unlocked the door and led the way inside. It was small and homey, as always; the couch was fit for two and, to Axel's mild surprise, it still held the grape jelly stain he had spilled on it when he was 12. The redhead grinned at the memory, before following Roxas up the stairs toward the kitchen. He was surprised to see a very familiar brunet eating a sandwich at the table.

Sora looked shocked for a moment. After a brief nonverbal exchange with Roxas, he narrowed his eyes at Axel.

"Axel." He quickly picked his sandwich back up and started eating again.

"Hey, Sor," the redhead replied, giving him a small hopeless smile. It wasn't returned.

"Sora, I thought we agreed I would make dinner tonight," the blond said with a heavy sigh. He motioned for Axel to set Kairi down in her high chair before turning back to his brother. Sora shrugged carelessly.

"I got hungry while you two were out. Sorry." He took another bite, looking at Axel out of the corner of his eyes. "Riku'll come by and eat later. I can still sit at the table."

Roxas nodded, pulling a little sippy cup out of the fridge and setting it down in front of Kairi. The girl blinked tiredly at it for a minute before taking a drink. Axel just stood against the side while awkwardly, not sure what to do or say to the two brothers. It was quiet in there for a few minutes while Sora finished his sandwich and Roxas took the chicken and put it in the oven.

Finally, the brunet got up and put his plate in the sink.

"I'll be watching T.V. Let me know when you guys figure this out." And with that, he left.

Axel scratched the back of his head lightly and took a seat at the table unprompted. He decided he would approach the topic delicately, but nonchalantly. This still seemed to be a sore spot for both Sora and Roxas, though for the life of him, he couldn't understand why.

"Can I help with anything?"

Roxas shook his head, but didn't look up as he began cutting the vegetables. "No, it's alright. I've got it. Is broccoli okay?"

Axel frowned at the idea of the green, evil vegetable. "I'll just go with the chicken and pasta, thanks. Not much of a fan of that stuff."

The blond nodded, and silence filled the room again. Kairi began playing with her empty cup, pretending to giving it to her doll as she mumbled softly to herself. Axel finally decided to ask the question.

"So...how'd you end up with Kairi?"

Roxas stopped what he was doing for a moment and gave a very heavy sigh. Axel almost thought he was quivering slightly, but whether it was with anger or sadness, he couldn't guess.

"I would have thought you'dve guessed that by now."

Axel blinked at that. Sure, he'd suspected it, but he'd hoped it wasn't true.

"You mean she's...?"

"Yes, Axel." The blonde turned to face him, his face surprisingly calm. "She's yours."


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh god..." Axel had no idea what to say. He got Roxas pregnant? Well, that clarified why the boy didn't want to talk to him after the whole affair...But...

"How?"

Roxas shook his head slightly, scoffing. "Axel, did you never pay attention in sex ed?"

"Yes I did!" he defended. "...Sort of..."

"Then you should know that some guys carry that mutant gene. The Bearer gene, I think it's called." The boy paused for a moment, finally nodding to himself. "We didn't figure out that I had it until I went to the doctor. I didn't go much as a kid, so I never figured it out until it was too late."

Axel just stared at him, causing Roxas to raise an eyebrow skeptically.

"I'm surprised you didn't know more about this. Sleeping around with so many people, I'd think you'd have impregnated others. How many people have you slept with anyway?"

Axel didn't say anything. He still seemed baffled by the fact that he had a kid. Roxas sighed.

"This is one of the reasons I didn't tell you. Though, admittedly, you're taking this better than I did."

Axel shook his head, then turned back to look at Roxas.

"You...you knew you were having my baby...and you kept it anyway?"

Roxas frowned. "Her, Axel. Kairi's not an it." He turned back to the counter and opened a box of bowtie-shaped pasta. "But yes."

The redhead stared at him, uncomprehending. "Why?"

The blond paused for a moment, looking back to see that Kairi was well-content playing with her heartless doll and sippy cup. He took a deep breath and shut his eyes a moment, remembering it all too well...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_"That bastard! I'll kill him!"_

_"Roxas, calm down!" Sora pushed him back down onto the doctor's table and holding the blond in place. It was partially to comfort him, but also to keep him from hurting himself._

_Roxas shook his head and cried, bringing his hands up to cover his eyes. "No! I can't calm down! That bastard got me pregnant! M-My life is over!" And it truly felt like it was. How would he keep going to school? He'd never be able to go out with his friends again. Everything would change._

_He almost started to hyperventilate when Sora grabbed his face and held it firmly._

_"Roxas, your life is not over. Listen to me." He waited until the boy looked at him, wiping a tear away as it ran down his cheek. "This doesn't have to be a burden on you. It's a great opportunity."_

_Roxas sniffed, looking away slightly. "H-How?"_

_Sora faltered for a moment, then smiled widely. "God has given you a precious gift, Roxy. Remember how you were always worried that you'd never have a real family? Well, now you can!"_

_"But Axel-"_

_"Shhhh." The brunet pressed his head against his chest and hugged his brother warmly, patting his back. "You don't need Axel. If he doesn't want to be a part of this family, then fine. Don't think about it. I'll help you, and so will Riku, and Dad. It'll be fine; you'll see."_

_Roxas hiccuped and leaned in closer to him._

_"What if I...what if I don't want this baby?"_

_Sora sighed softly, pulling back a bit so that he could look down at Roxas._

_"I would tell you to put it up for adoption then. But why don't we wait and see how you feel later?"_

_The blond shook his head. "I'm scared."_

_"I know." Sora patted his back and sighed. "I know. But there's a life in there, Roxas. Are you sure you want to think about that option so soon, even if it is Axel's?"_

_Another head shake. The brunet gave him a small smile. "Then let's wait. Who knows?"_

_Roxas nodded slowly, wiping his eyes. He was afraid of having to give birth. He'd seen videos of it in sex ed and it looked painful. But the baby..._

_Well, it wasn't a baby yet. But it would be within a year, and... and as long as he stayed away from Axel, he should be alright. And somewhere in his heart, Roxas did want to make up for the family that he felt he never had. With this child, he could be the doting parent his never were. He could make things right..._

_Roxas placed a hand over his stomach gently as he thought, wondering when he would start to feel the baby kicking inside. He would have to do some research while he decided and see..._

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Axel gaped at him. The boy in front of him suddenly looked so much older; so much more worn and tired. Maybe it was the lights in the kitchen, but Axel became even more aware of the bags underneath his eyes; the pallor of his skin. He didn't look happy with what he'd chosen.

"Why did you decide to keep her?"

Roxas looked down slightly, smiling to himself.

"I saw her on the sonogram during a few of the appointments. I was still deciding then, and Sora was always telling me to have her. He said I could put her up for adoption if I wanted to after. I guess...I guess I fell in love with her. And she was so small and helpless. I felt this instinct to protect her, you know?"

Axel continued to stare at him. The blond shook his head and let out a small, bitter laugh.

"I should have guessed you wouldn't understand. Maybe I wasn't a whore too, after all."

That got his attention. Insulted, Axel rose to his feet, startling a small 'eep' out of Roxas.

"I'm not that way anymore, Roxas. You have no right to talk about me that way. You didn't talk to me for 4 years."

Roxas looked startled for a moment, but his eyes narrowed slowly, and he stepped forward to meet Axel. He looked him in the eye more confidently; a first for Roxas, as Axel assumed.

"Don't think you can push me around anymore, Axel. This is my house, and I won't tolerate any crap. I get enough of it everyday," he snapped, surprising the redhead. "You gave me that impression, but maybe you've changed. I don't know. When I wanted to tell you about Kairi, you broke my leg!"

"What?" He remembered pushing the blond, but... "You never told me about Kairi! You just yelled at me!"

"That's because I-"

"Daddy?"

The two of them broke away, looking at Kairi. The little redhead had cast aside her toys and was watching them cautiously, not understanding the reason they were fighting. Roxas sighed, running a hand through his hair before he came over to her high chair, seeing her arms extended in pleading. He lifted her into his arms and held her close, rocking her slightly.

"I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I-Is Axel in trouble?" she asked childishly. Roxas smiled down at her sweetly, though Axel could see it didn't reach his eyes.

"No, baby. He's just a meanie sometimes." The blond almost laughed when Axel replied by sticking out his tongue. Kairi giggled softly, snuggling into her father's arms and sticking her thumb into her mouth. Roxas picked up her stuffed heartless and placed it in her hands, smiling when she clutched it tightly. He then turned to Axel, his face becoming a bit more serious.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you. But I was scared, okay?"

Axel raised an eyebrow. "What did you think I would do?"

"Well, you are the other father," the blond said nervously, lowering his gaze. "You technically have partial custody of her. I thought that, because of how you acted, you wouldn't want a baby. I thought you might..." He stopped for a moment, looking a bit distraught. Axel felt his heart tugging a little. He softened his features and stepped closer, motioning Roxas to continued.

"I'd what?"

Roxas shook his head. "I thought you might tell me to give her away."

Axel looked down guiltily for a moment. "Why would I do that?"

"I-I don't know. I just didn't want you to take her away from me." His eyes began to tear up slightly, and he took a step back from Axel, holding Kairi tighter to him. "Y-You took so much from me...I didn't want to lose Kairi too..."

Axel felt hurt. Roxas was acting like he was a complete monster. Sure, he didn't want a kid at such a young age, but he would never force Roxas to get rid of her. Looking at Kairi now, as she glanced up at her father with concern, he couldn't help but want to love her too. She was beautiful and sweet, and most of all, she was his little girl...

And Roxas had kept her from him. He wasn't sure what made him angrier, Roxas leaving him out of such an important decision, or that he'd been denied the joy of seeing her in the hospital. The more he looked at her little face, he understood the pride that would come with watching your child come into this world.

Axel glared at Roxas now. "I didn't take anything from you. If anything, you took her away from me! I didn't get to see her for 4 years, didn't know she even existed! You had no right to keep all this from me!"

The blond looked truly afraid of him. He backed away toward the hall, looking like he would call Sora for help at any minute. Axel was about to follow him, demand answers, but he realized that he wasn't helping anything. If anything, he was widening the gap between Roxas and himself. He would never trust him now. He'd probably never let him near Kairi again. Axel could fight for it in court, but he really didn't have the money. His father wouldn't be willing to help either.

Axel raised a hand to his head. This was giving him too much of a headache.

"I'm going home," Axel muttered, walking past the defensive Roxas and out past a curious Sora on the couch. "I have some...things to think about..."

Roxas didn't stop him. He watched the redhead stalk down the stairs and out the door without another word.


	7. Chapter 7

Axel slammed the door as he entered the house, not caring whether his father was around to hear. He marched up to his room and threw himself down on the bed, groaning as he hit.

"Why didn't he tell me?" he growled, pounding a fist onto the mattress. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see a terrified Roxas watching him. The thin frame trembling nervously, the eyes wide and fearful.

"I'm not a god damn monster!"

A baby. Of all things, why did it have to be a baby?

For a second, Axel tried to convince himself that Roxas was lying. It was just too ludicrous for a boy to get pregnant! He didn't have a womb!

"What the hell?" he muttered aloud, rolling over to stare up at the ceiling. "Where'd he keep the fetus? In a box?"

After a few more minutes of arguing internally, coupled with curses, Axel rolled over to his desk that was barely a foot away and began typing on his computer. He typed "Bearer gene" into the search engine and it came up with a couple of sites. He clicked one link and came across a very strange, unpleasant video.

"Okaaaayyy, didn't need to see that." He clicked the next one, which was ended with .gov, which looked more promising. He looked over the information, including a 'what are you?' test that you could take in your own home. There were two types, Bearers and Breeders. Axel guessed he was the latter. No test needed.

"Huh..." Okay, so by some crazy scheme of things, it was possible. Fool him once, shame on him...or however it went.

Bearers were introduced in the last five decades to combat the growing trend of infertility in younger, otherwise healthy women. It appeared to have been a global problem, stretching across many worlds in the form of some new, otherwise inconsequential disease.

Axel wondered for a moment if his father knew about it, but then thought better of it. Of course he knew. Probably everyone knew, and if he'd ever learned this, he'd forgotten it, trashed it in the back of his mind. It wouldn't have seemed important to him until high school, at least, and by then, everyone assumed that you knew anyway.

In fear of a heavy decrease in population, however gradual, some scientists had introduced special drugs into young boys that came in for other testing. It changed aspects of their genetic structure, and made many develop the sexual organs of both men and woman.

Huh...

It was a big scandal when it was uncovered. Parents freaked out, and there was a huge backlash against the altered kids themselves. Now, it seemed a bit more accepted, but there were still a lot of people who frowned on the individuals who carried the gene, by birth or by experimentation. It was addressed by very small, bare bones lectures in schools and colleges, and not much elsewhere. But whether that was to make it more quietly accepted to almost taboo, Axel didn't know.

The site didn't elaborate everything.

Still. Axel groaned as he flopped back onto his back. He flipped on the t.v. and rolled over onto his side, hoping that the noise might lull him to sleep. This was a lot to think about.

But it was a while before he could find the peace of mind to doze off, and even then, his dreams were riddled with questions. Questions and confusion.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_Axel found himself in front of a blue door, one with a small peephole at the high center. He fumbled in his pockets for a key and finally found one, quickly pulling the door open. Then, words seemed to spill from his mouth out of his control._

_"Honey, I'm home!" he called in a light, mocking tone. A soft laugh from the kitchen answered him._

_"About damn time too! Dinner's almost ready!"_

_Axel heard the loud pounding of feet as they came downstairs, and he bent down to scoop a squealing, giggling Kairi into his arms._

_"Daddy! You're home!" She threw her little arms around his neck and nuzzled him, beaming with that sweet little smile of hers. Axel grinned and quickly flipped her up and over his shoulder, chuckling himself when her giggles grew loud and hysterical. "I'm flying!"_

_"Are you ready to fly up the stairs now, sweetie?"_

_"Em-hm!" And with that, Axel picked up his generic brown briefcase and raced up the stairs, bouncing Kairi on his shoulder. The two of them laughed and laughed, reaching the top step in no time at all. Axel lowered her to the ground carefully, panting slightly. "Okay, sweetie. Time to land the plane now. Your old man's not as young as he used to be!"_

_His own words shocked him a bit, and Axel felt himself walked briskly past the kitchen into the hallway bathroom, inwardly gasping at the site in the mirror as he washed his hands. _

_He looked like he was thirty-five instead of twenty-five! Splashing some water on his face, he almost panicked at the sight of his fiery red hair. Was he balding in the front?_

_His face kept calm, despite all this. Happy even._

_"Axel?" came a soft, familiar voice from the kitchen. The redhead turned to see Roxas standing in the doorway, looking at him worriedly. "Is something wrong?"_

_Even Roxas looked older, but he didn't look nearly as worn. His skin wasn't tan, but it was much healthier than he recalled it. Blue eyes sparkled with such light in them, and despite the minor show of wrinkles, he looked just as he had at age 22. Axel shook his head, as he wondered if this was a dream. This looked similar to Sora's house, but it wasn't. It had to be a dream. _

_"Nothing. Nothing at all," he said, banishing the nervousness to the back of his mind. He took a step toward the blond, who, surprisingly, didn't flinch or back away when he approached. He threw an arm over the man's shoulder and kissed his forehead, surprising himself again at how natural it felt. "I'm fine, babe. How was your day?"_

_The blond beamed back at him, pulling them both back into the kitchen. Kairi was sitting on the floor with her faithful heartless doll by her side, but when Axel looked at her now, her clothes looked new. She even had a few Barbies she was playing with, completely ignoring her fathers._

_"It was fine. Uneventful. Kairi drew a picture of the three of us at the beach."_

_"Did she now?" Axel grinned and leaned low to ruffle the girl's hair as they walked past. Kairi giggled and quickly got to her feet._

_"I'm gonna draw Uncle Sora and Riku in it too! I'll show you!" She rushed off to her bedroom, no doubt to bring the picture for his approval._

_Axel chuckled again. "I see we have an artist in the family."_

_Roxas went back to the stove and flipped the burger patties over, causing them to sizzle. "Well, my cousin Namine always loved to draw. But she only did stick figures. And I stopped seeing them anywhere but on her school notes when I came to visit."_

_The redhead snuck over behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist, kissing his neck over and over lovingly._

_"That's cute, baby. Who knows, maybe our little girl will grow up to be an artist."_

_Roxas blushed faintly, but leaned into the kisses, trying not to get distracted and let his hands slip close to the heat. "I-I'm not sure that's a practical career."_

_"Don't stiffle her now, Roxy. Let her have her fun. And who knows? Someday she can be the greatest whatever-she-wants ever!"_

_The blond chuckled back, leaning in to kiss Axel's lips sweetly. "I'm sure."_

_Through the rest of dinner, Axel felt like he was watching a play. Roxas served them home-made hamburgers and fries and force-fed both Kairi and him a small side of broccoli, despite their protests. Axel heard himself talk about a bad day at the office; at one point, Roxas frowned at him and quickly covered Kairi's ears, scolding the older redhead for swearing in front of her. After dinner, they all sat down in front of the t.v. and watched some mindless dribble, all the while being really entertained by Kairi's little Barbie fashion show._

_At the end, Roxas and Axel took Kairi upstairs and put her to bed, each man kissing her forehead sweetly as her little eyes drooped. She gave a little yawn and rolled over, and was out like a light, just like that. Axel chuckled as he shut the door, quickly scooping up an unsuspecting Roxas before carrying him into their own room. The blonde blushed and clung to him for support, smiling encouragingly._

_He whispered sweet nothings in his lover's ear and made love like he'd never before. It was amazing and tender and oh so-_

_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._

Axel shot out of bed when he heard the texting sound go off on his phone. He quickly reached for it and turned the damn thing off, chucking it at the wall in frustration. That dream...It was so strange, but no in a bad way. Axel almost felt...regretful that it wasn't real. And not just because of the dream sex...

Which reminded him...

"God damn it!"


	8. Chapter 8

"What the hell do I do, Dem?" Axel whined hopelessly, before taking another generous swig of his morning coffee. Turns out that the text he received earlier that morning had been Demyx inviting him out to grab breakfast at a Starbucks. And now he was venting. "I got him pregnant. Fucking pregnant."

"Well," Demyx interceded, as he tore off a large piece of a blueberry muffin and stuffed it in his mouth, "It happened years ago, right? And he never told you, so I don't see how it's your problem."

"But I feel responsible, you know?" Axel sighed, laying his head down on his arms on the table. "It's not even really that. I can't get him and Kairi out of my head. I had a dream last night about them, and it's freaking me out."

The mullet-haired boy looked thoughtful for a moment, but Axel knew it was all just for show. Demyx's short attention span probably had the better of him now, and he was probably just trying to be polite. And all fairness aside, Demyx wasn't the brightest bulb out there. He'd probably come up with something ridiculously simple, like-

"So go talk to him. Let him know how you really feel."

Axel pulled slightly at his hair in frustration. "Dem, I really don't think it's that simple! I don't know what his problem is, but the kid acts like he's afraid of me! All the time!"

"But she's your daughter too, right? Doesn't that give you some...oh, I don't know...a legal right to see her?"

"I think so...But I don't _want _Roxas to be afraid of me! I'd like to be able to visit her on good terms, you know? No hard feelings." But in truth, Axel was starting to believe that was impossible. Roxas seemed to be unable to get past the fact that he lost his virginity, even if he had eventually accepted Kairi. He was set in believing that Axel was the bad guy, and that just wasn't true. It annoyed the redhead that he kept deluding himself this way, but...but maybe if he could show Roxas he was wrong, that he wasn't that bad of a guy...Maybe things could be better between them...

And that dream he had was so creepy at first, but it seemed so real. It was like, deep down, Axel _wanted _it to be real. He'd never been searching for commitment before, but that one dream made it seem so appealing...

Demyx paused again. "Well, maybe if you helped out somehow..."

Axel looked up at him, trying to understand what he was getting at. "How? I have little to no money right now. Maybe someday I could support him, but I can't now. And I'm telling you now, my dad sure as hell won't help." His father was always warning him his promiscuity would get him into trouble one day. He'd have a field day when he found out, but even then, he wouldn't help. He'd just rub it in Axel's face and probably kick him out.

"No, hear me out! You said he seemed overworked, like maybe trying to keep Kairi happy and cared for was tiring him out?" Axel nodded, and he continued. "You could offer to help babysit or play with her. Or just come around more and offer to help. He might appreciate that, and be willing to consider you in the future."

Axel stopped to think about it for a moment. He did have some time after work; if he went in at 8 a.m., it was possible for him to get out around 4:30 or 5. He could use that time to visit Roxas and maybe get to know him a little better. This plan also had the potential to get him back on good terms with Sora and Riku. Although... "What do I tell Dad? He'll know what time I get out and wonder why I get home so late every night."

Demyx offered a goofy grin. "I'll cover for you. Just say you're hanging out with me after work, or going to happy hours with the exec's and all that shit. If he calls asking for you, I'll cover."

Axel smiled and clapped the other boy on the back. "Thanks, Dem. It's good to know you have my back."

"No problem, man. Good luck with the kid with the stick up his ass."

The redhead grinned.

"Hey, that was _my_ stick, thank you very much."

Demyx rolled his eyes and waved him off. "Oh, pshaw. You don't even remember that."

Axel looked down into his coffee thoughtfully, watching it ripple as he stuck his spoon in and aimlessly mixed it around. Now, especially after that dream, he kind of wished he did...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Daring to test his luck again, after breakfast, Axel waited an hour or two before venturing back over to Sora's house. He checked his watch, which read 11:02. He figured that was a decent hour; everyone but college kids were up by then, even on the weekends.

For once in his life, he stopped to buck up his courage. Just before he reached for the doorbell, he felt a sudden tightening feeling in his stomach. He began to wonder various things like: would Roxas even open the door? Never mind whether or not he was home, would he see Axel at the door and shy away? He had virtually stormed out of there the night before.

_Stop worrying about it and try! _he told himself. _It doesn't hurt you to try!_

But he _would _feel hurt if Roxas was there and didn't open the door.

Without letting himself dwell on it anymore, Axel pushed the button and the bell rang. He waited for a couple of seconds, only just then wondering if he should have bought some flowers or something...

_Nah, too cheesy. _This wasn't some old movie.

Finally, he heard the lock of the door click, and his head perked up immediately. The door opened slowly, and as the crack grew bigger, Axel could see blonde hair peaking through the darkness. The young man looked decidedly uncomfortable, but Axel saw that it wasn't by his presence alone. He could see another shape behind Roxas, , another figure with determined blue eyes, pushing him forward, forcing him to face the door.

"Oh...h-hi Axel," the blonde greeted nervously, though his eyes seemed to be trying to look anywhere else. Despite feeling slightly disheartened, the redhead smiled warmly, trying to relax the tension in the air.

"Hey, Rox. Listen, I'm sorry about how I acted last night," he said seriously. Roxas blinked at him for a moment, but Axel didn't pause long enough for him to answer. "I didn't mean to be such a jerk about it." He still didn't think Roxas was necessarily right, but he wouldn't say that aloud just yet.

The blonde's blue eyes narrowed slightly, a little warily, but he nodded, seeming more confident now.

"It's alright." He didn't say anything else. Axel waited for a moment, making sure he wouldn't interrupt the man before he spoke again.

"Even so, I'd like to make it up to you somehow, if that's alright. Can I come in?"

Roxas seemed a little surprised by his offer, but he snapped something at his brother and slowly stepped back, opening the door further. "Um...sure..."

Axel gave him another warm smile, noticing the blonde swallow nervously when he looked at him. He wondered why that was only for a moment though. He was too busy reveling in his victory. So Roxas wasn't completely terrified of him after all!

It wasn't much, but it was a start. Enough to give him hope that maybe this could work...

Roxas led him back down to the living room, followed by a warily curious Sora. Axel smiled t him too, but that only seemed to put the brunet more on guard. His entire being seemed to say, "I'm watching you. Try anything funny with my brother again, and I'll make sure your baby maker won't live to see another one."

The blonde took a seat on the couch, his brother took the small armchair, and Axel sat himself down on the floor beside the couch. Roxas looked at him curiously. "Wouldn't you prefer the couch? It's comfier." Standard to offer a guest, but still a bold move from the timid man. Axel waved him off politely.

"It's fine. I'm good right here, thanks."

A couple minutes passed in silence, as the two sat there. Axel seemed to be pausing for an unnaturally long time, and Roxas just didn't say anything. He probably had no idea what to say. Axel just sat there observing, seeing the bags under his tired eyes; the messy, devil-may-care-because-I-sure-don't blonde locks; the way his posture was bent forward slightly, not completely submissive but beaten down, worn. Reminding himself of this, along with the dream, Axel strengthened his resolve. He cared about Roxas a little more like a friend now. Perhaps one day he would grow to love him as well...

Sora looked between the two, like he was waiting for one of them to say something. The awkward was just too overwhelming.

Finally, to everyone's secret relief, Axel moved. He scooted forward a little, closer to Roxas, and then, as the younger man looked down at him curiously, he took his right hand.

"Roxas..." His voice was soft and caring, and the blonde's eyes widened slightly, taken aback. "I know it's a little late now, but I... want to make things good with you."

Roxas looked like he wanted to say something, but Sora cut him off. The two looked at the brunet, who motioned back to Axel. "Continue."

The redhead nodded. "I can't make up for those years I missed out on, but I want to help you now. I don't have a lot of money. I just got a job yesterday, so I don't think I can support you that way yet. But I'd like to help in any way I can." He squeezed Roxas's hand lightly, smiling as honestly as he could, given it all. "Whatever you need..."

The blonde was speechless for a moment, working his mouth open and closed like he wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words. When they finally came to him, though, they were not what Axel was expecting.

"Do you really want to help me, Axel? Or are you just trying to help yourself?" When Axel blinked at him, uncomprehending, the man said, "I'm surprised that you would feel guilty after all of this, but it's not unnatural. I don't want your help if it just out of pity."

Sora spoke up then, shooting a frustrated look at his brother. "Oh, come on, Rox! You're not in much of a position to refuse his help!"

"Sora!"

"It's true! You work like a dog while Kairi's at daycare; you give up everything you want to do when she comes home just to make her happy! You're always tired, and when was the last time you ate something decent?" the brunet asked seriously, a determined frown on his face as he argued the case.

"That's none of his business, and you didn't need to go blabbing it! I'm fine, okay? I chose this, and I'm going to make it work! I'll do everything on my own if I have to!"

"Roxas..." Axel finally stood and seated himself beside the blonde on the couch. He put a hand on the young man's shoulder, speaking calmly. "It's not out of pity, alright? I want to help you and Kairi. If I didn't, I wouldn't have come here or said anything."

Roxas narrowed his eyes and looked at him darkly. "Oh, so it's Kairi you want now? Don't think you can buy her love and take her away from me!"

"I'm not trying to take her away from you!" Axel urged, his voice a little louder now. "I want to be a part of this family!"

The blonde gasped softly. As Axel looked his in the eye, trying to find out what was going on in that head, he could see a whirlwind of emotions in those deep blue eyes. Sadness, pain, then more doubt, but Axel was sure he could also see a faint hope in there. Roxas was being so difficult, but the redhead could just tell he wanted Axel's words to be true. Was he really still hoping for love, after all these years?

Roxas looked away from him. "You're lying..."

"No I'm not." Axel reached out carefully and took the blonde's head in his hands, turning him to look at him. The face moved, but the eyes stayed narrow, and kept looking away even as he spoke. "What will it take for you to trust me?"

Roxas said nothing to that. Meanwhile, Sora had returned to being silent on his side of the room. He crossed his arms and watched the scene unfold, but his expression was hard to read. From the corner of his eye, Axel saw that he wasn't moving to back either of them up. If Sora was willing to let him help, why not Roxas?

Very slowly and carefully, Axel drew Roxas's face closer to his. In a split second, he leaned closer to make up for the distance, pressing his lips to Roxas's sweetly. The younger man's eyes widened and locked on him, and he made a little muffled sound of surprise, but Axel didn't stop. He stroked his thumb along the side of that face tenderly, not moving to invade his mouth just yet. And surprisingly enough, Roxas didn't try to pull away...

Cautious, stuff lips slowly began to relax and move against his. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but Axel could almost feel a twinge of eagerness as they responded. He smiled at that, doing all he could to make the kiss sweet and comforting; assuring Roxas that he wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

And just like that, Axel's hope was renewed with vigor. Maybe there was a chance for that dream after all...


	9. Chapter 9

Roxas excused himself to his room while he thought things over; Axel followed Sora to the kitchen to talk. The brunet didn't immediately begin speaking; instead, he moved to the sink and began scrubbing off a few dishes that were piled there. He opened the dishwasher and began placing things inside, one by one, not looking at Axel the whole time.

"Took you long enough..." the man finally muttered, though his tone was not harsh. It was calm, even a little humorous underneath.

Axel gaped. "You...you knew this would happen?"

"No, not really." Sora inclined his head slightly and smiled slyly back at him. "I gave you that message four years ago for a reason. I was surprised when you didn't immediately get the hint. But you're just as big of an idiot as I remember."

"Hey!" Axel growled indignantly, and Sora laughed at him openly. He turned back to the dishes, ignoring the redhead's fuming.

"I'm so excited...getting married. It seems like such a huge step, but Riku's ready, and so am I. But I was worried too," he admitted, his tone more subdued as his eyes lowered a bit sadly. "Everything's going right for me, and wrong for Roxas. And no he says he wants to move out by the day of the wedding; says it'll give me and Riku our space. I keep telling him it's alright; he's my baby brother, and I'll love and support him no matter what he does. But he doesn't want to freeload. I can tell he wants to be independent, but I really don't think he's ready." Sora's eyes turned to meet Axel's. "I know it's too soon, but could you...?"

Axel shook his head. "My dad doesn't even know yet. I think that would do more harm then good." Then, tentatively, he asked, "Does he have any money to move? What about Kairi?"

Sora sighed, putting a dish on the lower rack. "No...he doesn't have much. He saves as much as he can and never spends anything on himself. I keep trying to tell him this idea is stupid. It's unnecessary! But he won't hear of it. He's too stubborn."

Axel grinned a little. "Reminds me of someone else I know."

The brunet grabbed a dish rag and threw it at him, but Axel could see he was smiling wider. That was the Sora he knew.

"Fuck off. Last I remember, you were the one who always insisted to have your way. There wasn't a single game of tag we played where you didn't bitch and whine if you were it."

"Touche..."

A few minutes passed in silence, as Axel fiddled with his thumbs and tried to think of how he could help. If only Roxas would just stay put until he had the money. This seemed like the dumbest possible thing he could do...

Sora moved to the kitchen table and took a seat, laying his head down on the hard surface. He mumbled a soft, "Man, I'm tired," and Axel couldn't help but smile. He missed Sora a lot...

Just then, there came a soft grumble, and in stumbled a disheveled-looking Riku. He didn't see Axel at first; instead, he wandered over to Sora and leaned down, wrapping his arms around the younger man's shoulders and nuzzling his neck slightly.

"Morning, love. Where's my coffee?"

Sora smiled softly. "You're a big man. Get it yourself."

"But you're my little housewife. I thought that was in your job description."

"Tough. I don't feel like it."

Riku smiled and leaned in closer, kissing his neck. "Please?"

Sora sighed heavily and slowly got up from his chair. "I just sat down too." Riku watched him move to the coffee pot, and he finally seemed to notice Axel was there. His eyes widened a little, and he fumbled for a moment, not knowing what to say.

Finally, he settled with, "Hey, Ax."

The redhead smiled at him, hoping to ease off the awkwardness even just a little. "Hey, Riku."

Sora put the pot on the hot plate and spoke up, breaking the silence that followed. "It took him this long to figure out what we went."

That got a chuckle from the silver-haired man. "I figured." Turning back, he said, "Geez, Axel, you are clueless."

Axel piped up, partially indignantly, partially just embarrassed. "How the hell was I supposed to know that was what you guys meant?"

Sora shook his head slightly, and Riku merely shrugged. "You never asked."

"I never-" Axel spluttered indignantly for a moment, just about ready to sock his two former friends in the face, when Roxas came back into the kitchen. His hair was hanging damply on his head, like he'd just been taking a shower, and as Axel's eyes trailed down from there, he saw a familiar little redhead bounce into the room behind him, only pausing for a moment when she saw him. His earlier argument was all but forgot.

"It's Mister Carrothead!"

Axel blinked for a moment, realizing that the name was meant for him, and he was about to grumble when he felt the little girl slam into him, hugging his leg. She smiled up at him with that cute, toothy smile, and Axel couldn't stop one of his own from forming. Something about that just reminded him of himself.

He ruffled her hair lightly. "It's Axel, squirt." She giggled back.

"I like Carrothead better!"

Looking to Roxas for help didn't do him any better. The blond was laughing quietly to himself, looking down guiltily when Axel met his eyes.

"She got her stubbornness from her father's side."

Axel rolled his eyes before looking back down at the girl. Somehow, just looking at her, he knew she'd be a beautiful woman someday. Never mind that Axel thought all redheads were gorgeous by design, but she had Roxas's face and his blue, blue eyes. This whole change to his life was gonna take some getting used to, but looking from the blond to his daughter again, Axel couldn't help but feel it was worth it. The two of them were absolutely beautiful. It just had to be...

"Fine," he said simply, ruffling Kairi's hair softly. "But that's Daddy Carrothead to you."

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Axel took the two to the park for the rest of the afternoon. He left Roxas sitting on the bench for a while as he followed Kairi over to the swings. He sat beside her, stationary on his swing, while she kicked her legs and kept trying to go higher and higher.

"So...what's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

Kairi stopped her giggling for a moment and looked at him, tilting her head a bit as the swing kept going back and forth. After thinking about it, she smiled widely.

"Sea Salt! That's Daddy's favorite too!"

"Really?" Axel smirked a little, letting his eyes trail over to where Roxas sat in the sun on the park bench. The blond seemed to be nodding off; he was watching Axel and Kairi with a soft smile, but his eyes were drooping dangerously low. There were several little rays of sunlight beaming down over the blond, making his pale skin glisten and his hair look soft and warm.

Axel watched the blond for a few minutes out of the corner of his eye, his mind absently going over the details. When he was quiet like that, Axel could easily see him as cute and dateable. It was only when he opened that big mouth of his that Axel found things to complain about. But, of course, ignoring the stubborn blonde's needs and thoughts would get him no where...

One of these days, he was going to work up the nerve to ask Roxas what happened that night. Watching the handsome young man doze in the late afternoon sun, Axel felt a little desire building up in his heart. He wanted to have him again to satisfy that curiosity, but right now that just wasn't in the cards.

Axel turned back to his daughter, seeing her slow down and finally stop beside him.

"You're really my daddy too?"

The older redhead paused, seeing the calm question in her eyes. He'd mentioned it earlier, but he didn't really expect the little girl to understand just yet.

He nodded. Kairi looked at him curiously.

"Where'd you go for so long?"

Axel gave a small sigh. He should have known this would take a little bit of explaining on his part. Kids were young and distracted, but that didn't mean they were stupid.

"I was just trying to find what I wanted out of life. I was still just a kid when you were born." The redhead liked to think he had grown up a little since then, but hey, you learn new things every day. He was hoping he could change his slacker streak with this new job he got.

His daughter nodded slightly, then turned back to her swing and began pumping her legs again, swinging back and forth slowly.

"Did you not want me?"

Axel looked over at her, startled by the question. It was asked so calmly, but her head was lowered, sad. It was eerier, thinking she could tell how he felt. Desperate, Axel fought with himself over whether to give her the truth or a lie. No, he hadn't wanted kids...at least, not yet. But was she old enough to be able to hear the truth and accepted it without hurt? If he could have, Axel would have groaned to himself.

_Why can't she just be asking something easy...like Santa Claus? _It was easy to lie about that and not feel guilty.

"It's...It's not that I didn't want you, Kairi," he began finally, feeling his grip on the swing tighten a little, in tune with his discomfort. "I didn't even know you existed."

"How could you not know?" she pushed further, looking up at him with big puppy-dog eyes. Axel squirmed a little, caught firmly in their trap.

A distraction! That might help! If he could just get her off the subject, then maybe...

But no. Axel thought about it some more. Kids could be persistent. Even if he could persuade her to forget it for now, that didn't mean she would forget it entirely. Hearing how calmly she asked the question, Axel suspected that she had thought about it before.

"I just...didn't. Your daddy never told me I was a father." He leaned over and wrapped an arm around her, behind the swing. "But that doesn't mean I don't want you. Do you want me?"

"Yes!" she replied quickly, almost urgently. Axel had to smile at that. She didn't want him to have any doubts on that, he could tell.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you before...But can I try to be there now?"

Kairi paused for a minute, but it didn't seem like she thought over it very long. She nodded and pointed a finger right at his nose, making him blink.

"Okay. But you have to pinky swear! No leaving me and Daddy again, okay?"

Axel raised his eyebrow slightly, but nodded and smiled back. "Okay. Promise." He hoped to himself that he could keep that promise. Roxas would be a large determining factor in that. But once he was more established on his own, then, if he needed to and things went badly, he could always pursue the matter in court. He just really hoped it didn't come to that...

Satisfied, Kairi smiled a big, toothy smile at him and practically jumped into his arms. The older redhead laughed and held her tightly against his chest, ruffling her hair gently with one hand.

"That's my girl."

His daughter giggled softly, breaking away from his hold just a minute later, as she raced over to the bench. Axel chuckled, wondering to himself if he should stop her, seeing how peacefully the blonde was dozing, but decided it was too late. He'd never catch her in time. Slowly, Axel rose from the swing and followed Kairi, choking out a laugh when he saw her tackle the other man full on the chest, shocking him awake.

Roxas's look of pained surprise quickly turned to vague discomfort, and he smiled, listening patiently while Kairi bounced excitedly on his knee, going on about something. By the time Axel got over there, he'd missed most of the conversation, but he caught the bare end of it when Kairi asked, "Can we go get some ice cream now?"

The blonde looked up as Axel approached, and Axel saw that he looked unsure. Roxas bite his lip, replying, "I don't know, sweetie. I'll have to see if I have enough money. Besides, don't we have some ice cream at home?"

Kairi pouted. "It's not SEA SALT flavored! Please?"

Quickly, Axel scooped his daughter up into his arms, throwing her carefully over one shoulder. It was just how he remembered carrying her in his dream, and he heard a small squeak before she immediately broke out in a fit of giggles. He smiled, looking back down at the half-bemused, half-smiling Roxas.

"Let's go ahead and get some. I kind of want to try sea salt ice cream now."

"Yay!" The little bundle over his shoulder wiggled and squealed. Roxas looked like he was about to protest, but Axel raised a hand to stop him.

"It'll be my treat. Don't worry."

The man still looked a bit unsure, but Axel didn't let him stop and think long. He extended that hand to help the blonde up, and it was accepted with the smallest of smiles. They set off toward the ice cream shop, slowly, but all the while, the two men exchanged small glances between the two of them; small, insignificant smiles and the lightest squeezing of one hand in another. It wasn't much, but after the umpteenth look from the blonde, Axel felt sure that Roxas was beginning to warm up to the idea of them as a family. Or at least he was curious, willing to explore the idea for now. Either way, Axel didn't complain.


	10. Chapter 10

Possible drama next chapter, but for now, everything's going fine. Axel and Roxas are slowly warming up to the idea :) Doing things a little different this chapter by looking at other perspective's than Axel, but it won't happen too often...

* * *

At the Leonhart residence...

"The beach?"

Sora rolled his eyes at his brother, who was occupied at the moment, making breakfast. "That's what I just said, Rox. This weekend we're taking a trip to the beach!"

"You and Riku?"

"No, all of us, silly!" The brunet came to his side and slapped his shoulder hard, making him let out a rather unmanly squeak. "We're trying to get the old college gang together to go to the beach. Axel can come too, if you want."

The blonde winced, rubbing his sore shoulder. Sora had almost made him drop the eggs he'd been holding into the sink.

"Do I have to go?"

"Yes, you have to go!" Sora said firmly, frowning. "It's time you had a break anyway."

"But it costs so much for a train ticket..."

"Riku and I are covering everyone."

The blonde's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't say anything more to that.

"But what will I do with Kairi? I'm not bringing her along if there's going to be drinking involved."

The brunet rolled his eyes again. Just then, Riku ambled into the kitchen, wrapping his arm around Sora as he spoke.

"We've already planned for that. Aqua's going to be around this weekend. She's already agreed to babysit."

Roxas paused at the sink, setting down his half scrambled eggs. He liked Aqua a lot; she was like an older sister to him when he had first moved there. He had no problems leaving Kairi with her, but...

"You really think I should invite Axel along?"

"Of course!" Sora beamed. "Demyx and Larxene are coming too! We can all catch up and have some fun at the beach! Why shouldn't he come?" When Roxas remained silent, he sighed heavily. "Rox, you have to start relaxing a little about this. Axel's cool. He's already said he would help you. Can't you just let him?"

The blonde lowered his head a little guiltily. Talking to him a little bit, Roxas found that Axel wasn't that bad of a guy. They were both young when the misunderstanding happened, and it was clear that the redhead had grown up a bit since then. He seemed genuine about taking responsibility for Kairi. Roxas couldn't understand himself why he was still so bitter about it. He wanted to let Axel in...

"I know. I guess it's just that... I'm afraid of getting hurt again."

Sora's eyes softened at that. Pulling free of Riku, he came over to his little brother and hugged him tightly, patting his back soothingly.

"I know, Rox. I don't blame you. But at the same time, I really think you should open up to him. This situation is how it is, and it'd probably help if you made the best of it. Axel's not such a bad guy. He's just dumb sometimes."

The blonde laughed lightly, leaning into his brother more and smiling. A quick glance at Riku gave him a reassuring smile. These two knew Axel better than he did. Maybe, if they had faith in him, Roxas could too...

"Alright, I'll come. I'll ask Axel if he wants to go too." With that, the blonde pulled away slowly and left the kitchen, going to wake up Kairi for breakfast. Sora watched him go with a kind of wistful smile, sighing as he felt Riku come up behind and wrap his arms around his waist, pulling him against him.

"I hope this all works out, Riku," he murmured, still staring at the empty doorway. "I really do..."

"I think it will, babe." The silver-haired boy nuzzled his ear lightly, one of his hands trailing upward slowly to hold his lover's cheek. "We'll back him up. I don't think Axel would purposely hurt him again, but if he does, I'll personally kick his ass for you two."

Sora smiled sadly.

"Thanks, Riku..."

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Axel shut his labtop with a satisfied sigh, leaning back in his chair and stretching widely. The article he had written for the union was long and rather tedious, but it was finally done. And he was looking forward to the big beach trip that would start in just a couple hours. Thank God for loaded friends!

Axel yawned and reached back to scratch his back, deciding he'd get up and head out already. Then there was a tap coming from the other side of his small cubicle, and he turned to see a grinning Demyx waiting there, dressed in a god-awful Hawaiian print shirt and kakis. One or two lays hung from around his neck, and he had a giant, goofy pair of sunglasses sitting on his head. Axel almost had to look away; the light radiating from the guady shirt almost blinding him.

"Where the hell did you get that thing, Dem?" Best of all, the shirt was pink. The manliest color out there. The blonde looked down at himself for a moment, then back up at Axel, looking a bit worried.

"What, too much?"

Axel couldn't help but shake his head and laugh. Demyx was the nerdiest of all his friends, and he loved the ocean more than any sane person should. The redhead knew it was his dream to get a house by the beach one day...

At least it was casual Friday...

"It's too you."

The blonde flipped him the bird before turning and motioning him to follow.

"Come on! It's time to clock out so we can go!"

Axel grabbed his bag and quickly followed after him. They waved goodbye to Chris, one of the IT guys, as they passed, and soon they were on their way to Demyx's apartment, where both of them had left their bags for the trip.

"So, are you totally psyched about this or what?" the blonde asked eagerly, as he checked through the suitcase, making sure nothing was forgotten. Axel sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned back until his back hit the mattress.

"Yeah. It'll be great seeing everyone again." And maybe this could be his chance to get closer to Roxas...

Demyx seemed to sense his thoughts, looking over at his friend with a slight look of worry.

"You nervous at all?"

"Not really," he replied simply, stretching his arms out above his head with a light groan. "I think it'll be fine. Maybe this'll be good for us too. Give us some time to really bond."

The blonde smirked at him, his expression the direct opposite of innocent.

"Oh, I see how it is..."

"Not like that!" Axel growled, smacking a hand over his eyes and forehead heavily. He knew Demyx was joking, but even so, he could feel a light blush tinting his cheeks at the thought. His mind kept going back to that dream he'd had a week before, remembering how the small blonde had beckoned him with open arms...

"Relax, fire crotch. I'm just kidding." Demyx slammed the case shut and then sat on it for good measure. Axel watched him blankly as he made sure it would close, though his mind was somewhere else. Partying and drinking on the beach...

It sounded like fun, but at the same time, it reminded him of how he'd gotten in trouble in the first place. If he did drink, he had to do it responsibly now. No fast shots. He wasn't going to get wasted and end up banging someone at the party. Somehow, he was determined to make this thing with Roxas work, and he highly doubted the blonde would appreciate him making a drunken ass of himself again...

The redhead looked up as Demyx's phone began beeping. The blonde picked it up and checked it, snapping it closed just as quickly.

"That's Sora. They want us to meet at the Traverse Town Station in 20 minutes."

Axel checked his watch quickly, nodding as he stood and grabbed his bag.

"Here we go..."

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The house wasn't the biggest on the block, but it was still nice-looking. It was mostly white with a porch-balcony above the garage in front, and two porches on the back facing the ocean. Three rooms, three beds, and a couch here and there. Sora and Riku claimed one room, Larxene had claimed another for herself and Xion, and the last was for Roxas. He had reluctantly agreed to share it with Axel, so as to use as much space as they had, which left Saix, Zexion, Demyx, and Marluxia to find space on the floor or couches. That was left up for them to fight over.

Roxas stood in the kitchen, his bare feet stepping carefully over the cold tiled floor as he walked to the balcony. The kitchen was open and sunny due to the big windows, giving a very nice view of the ocean. Especially now that it was sunset; the sky was lit up in beautiful reds, oranges, purples, and pinks. There were only one or two clouds in the sky, whispy and insignificant compared to the glorious setting sun.

The blonde slid the sliding glass door aside and stepped onto the porch, sighing contently as he felt the cool ocean breeze rushing past him. It felt so good to relax and just_ be, _not running around and worrying about keeping his daughter out of trouble. Of many things, Roxas missed this freedom to relax and just _be _more than anything. He missed being able to do what he wanted, when he wanted; here, he could sail out to see and stay there all day, if he wanted...

Leaning on the white railing, Roxas looked out at the sand and sea and smiled. He was happy he had decided to come along for this. He wasn't very social, but Sora seemed to think he'd enjoy the party. He said it'd be good for him...

Roxas squeaked when he felt a hand on his shoulder then. He turned quickly to find Axel standing behind him, a casual grin on his lips at having caught the blonde off-guard. Roxas blushed faintly, quickly looking down at the floorboards like they were the most interesting thing in the world...

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," the redhead chuckled, moving so that he was leaning on the railing too. He looked out at the sea and sunset just as Roxas had, sighing as the light wind blew and ruffled a few spikes of his hair.

"I wasn't scared!" the boy objected quickly, trying not to stutter. "You just surprised me is all." He turned back to look at the ocean too, not looking Axel's way at all if he could help it.

They passed several minutes in silence then. A gull flew by the house overhead, crying as it flapped and flew away. Slowly, aware of the distance between them, Axel moved slightly to his right, inching closer and closer to Roxas.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Roxas hummed slightly, nodding, but never turning to meet his eyes. Axel smiled.

"You know..." he said casually, not looking over even as he moved and Roxas lifted his gaze to look at him curiously. "Sora, Riku, and I used to come here sometimes over the summer."

"R-Really?" It seemed the younger man had finally noticed Axel inching closer. Axel smiled widely, finally looking over at him.

"Yep. Cloud used to rent out this place and bring us along. I think we still have a box of old photos laying around under one of the floorboards here." The two of them kept moving until Roxas's back hit the wall where the divider and the railing met, as Axel moved closer, practically pinning him there. He saw the younger man swallow nervously, his eyes unsure and even a bit scared. He raised a hand to hold his pale cheek gently, looking down at the blonde with kind, but hungry eyes.

"Did you ever go to the beach?"

Roxas shook his head slightly, breathing quickly. "M-My mother never had time to...to bring me here."

Axel chuckled softly, looking down into wide blue eyes. They were so vibrant, so beautiful; he couldn't even begin to compare them. Even the sea couldn't do that deep blue justice...

"Maybe someday we can go. Just the two of us..."

Slowly, carefully, Axel closed the space between their parted lips. His lips pulled and sucked gently, his hand moving slowly over that smooth cheek as he deepened the kiss. He lost track of how long they stood there, but he _did_ registered when pale hands tangled in his hair, pulling him slightly closer. He _did _hear when Roxas moaned softly, a sound that thrilled him to the core. It was warm and needy, but he didn't mind. He responded eagerly, giving the blonde whatever he wanted easily...

When they finally parted, the sun was much lower, almost dipping below the horizon. The sky was beginning to turn deep purple, as the shadow of night crept over from the east and trailed across the sky. Axel pulled away slowly, looking down into eyes that were hazy and content; seeing a small smile on those lips as the younger man hummed happily. Axel chuckled, delighted to see that the sound had caused him to blush again.

"Let's go see what the other's are up to. Alright?"

Roxas's nod was barely noticeable. Axel wanted to laugh at how cute he was, but he held back. Somehow, it already felt like his dream. Like everything was perfect, and this man was his to love and hold forever. He knew it wasn't true, at least not yet, but perhaps he was close. Perhaps it would only take a little more time. He was sure he could get the withdrawn boy to talk and be open soon...

With a warm smile, he slid his hand into Roxas's and locked their fingers. He led him back inside slowly, all the while feeling his heart jump for joy in his chest. The weekend was off to a great start...


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry for the short chapter, but yes, this is where things get a little crazy. For those of you who have never heard of kings, you can look it up anywhere on the internet and get a better idea. I'm not a party person, but I've seen friends play it before. Welcome to college, kiddies. -_-

* * *

Axel chuckled as he watched his idiot friend dancing to the too loud music playing in the kitchen. It wasn't that Demyx had had too much to drink; no, no one had really touched the stuff yet. The blonde was just a crazy dancer. It was like he let the music flow through him, like blood through his veins, and it took him over.

"Hey, Ax!" he shouted over the music, with the redhead was sure was blasting loud enough to bother the people next door. But no one really seemed to care now, and they sure as hell wouldn't care later. "Come over here and dance with me!"

Said redhead shook his head, grinning.

"Now that's just mean, Dem. You want people to compare our dancing?"

"But it's fun!" the blonde whinned.

Just then, Marluxia came into the room, shouting over everyone's conversations.

"We're starting a game of kings upstairs. Who's in?"

Several people got up then, voicing their interest, and Axel noticed that Roxas looked like he was tempted to go up too. Axel got off his little barstool at the counter and strolled over to where he was sitting on the couch.

"You going up, kid?"

The blonde frowned at the name, but he shook his head nervously. "I don't know...maybe? How about you?"

"Nah. I've played before. It's not really my kind of game." After a short pause, he shot the younger man a look. "Do you even know how to play?"

Roxas shook his head. "I know there's cards and drinking involved, but not much else. I wasn't really that much of a...partygoer before..."

_That would explain how he ended up in bed with me, _Axel thought to himself. If the kid didn't have all that much experience with alcohol, then he could easily have gotten wasted and followed the redhead to bed with not much prompting. Although he seemed to remember the night fine. But then again, Axel didn't remember it at all. He'd have to ask later...

Shaking his head to clear the thought, Axel put a hand on his shoulder.

"You should go ahead and play. It's fun."

Roxas looked up at him nervously. "You sure?"

"Yeah, go relax and have a good time. My advice would be to steer clear of straight shots. If you have to take a drink of something, go for a regular drink with maybe one shot mixed in there, and take sip, don't chug. You'' last if you make _it_ last." After a moment, he added, "Mix it up with just water occasionally too. This is a pretty good group of people; I doubt they'd pitch a fit if you didn't drink something alcoholic every time. Don't give in to pressure if you don't want to drink stuff."

Roxas looked up at him, eyes wide.

"You seem to have a lot of experience with this sort of thing."

Axel smiled down at him, but it wasn't his usual cocky grin. It was actually a bit sad. One of these days, he was probably going to have to tell Roxas about that.

"I've had loads of practice."

With that ominous last word, the redhead pushed him toward the stairs gently. "Go on. Just be aware of your limit, and have a good time."

"B-But I don't know my limit," Roxas shouted back, stopping just before he reached the stairs. Axel smiled.

"Come find me when you've had enough. Otherwise, stick with Sora."

The blonde soon disappeared, and Axel couldn't ignore Demyx's whines any longer. He got up there on the floor with his friend and they danced until they couldn't anymore. The moon was rising high outside the window, and the ocean below was glowing beautifully in its silvery light. And the party kept on going, late into the night...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Three beers later, Axel was feeling a wonderful buzz. He sat on the couch again, laughing as he watched Demyx dancing with an obviously drunk Zexion. Really, the redhead was a bit worried about that. The dark-haired man was swaying a bit too much, but Demyx held him up, giggling all the while. He was one of those silly drunks, and Axel always loved to be around for that. Having a conversation with him was perhaps one of the most entertaining things he could do at a party...

Then in the next instant, they were kissing wildly, as Zexion slammed his back against the wall and shoved his tongue down his throat. Axel winced and looked away, deciding he'd go find something else to do. Odds were, Sora and Riku were off in one of the bedrooms, so _that_ was a no-go. And somewhere else, Larxene was probably dancing with her top off and slowly trying to convince a tipsy Xion to follow her lead.

Axel decided he would go find Roxas and make sure he hadn't drunk himself into a comma somewhere. Trusting his older brother to protect him while Riku was here...really, what had he been thinking when he said that? Suddenly a bit more worried, but still not overly so, Axel stood and made his way out of the kitchen, ambling down the hall and downstairs. He was just about to turn around, realizing that he had gone the wrong way, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. The redhead turned slowly, expecting to see Roxas there, but instead found Saix leaning heavily on him, breathing hot on his neck.

He fought down the disgust and the flood of memories.

"Uh...hi."

The blue-haired man looked up at him, his eyes not hazy, but _gleaming. _That couldn't be good.

"Has anyone ever told you you're dead sexy?"

The redhead grinned awkwardly at that. "I do believe someone told me that once."

He'd tried to pretend the blue-haired man wasn't there for most of the trip so far, and since he'd been off doing other stuff, that had pretty much succeeded. But it looked like Saix wasn't going to let sleeping dogs lie.

Even in his buzz, Axel didn't like his look. Or his presence at all, for that matter.

"Saix-"

Before he could say or do anything else, hands were tangling in his hair by his face, jerking him roughly forward to meet Saix's lips. The redhead let out a small gasp of surprise, but Saix worked that in his favor and shoved his tongue straight in, mapping everything it could reach. Even more suddenly, Axel felt his back hit the wall hard and the other man's body press up against his. He knew this was about to get out of hand and he had to push the guy off...

"A-Axel?"

The redhead pulled away and looked toward the front door, eyes widening to find a very confused, very distraught-looking blonde standing there. Saix turned his head more slowly, glaring slightly.

"That's his name, kid. Now scram. We're in the middle of something."

Roxas let out a loud sob before he turned and ran to the door, unlocking it and throwing it open.

"Roxas!" Axel shoved Saix hard away and moved to follow, growling when he felt a hand close around his wrist.

"Don't worry about him, sexy," the man purred behind him. "He'll get over it."

Axel glared at him and shoved him hard into the wall. Without a second thought, he ran to the door and out, calling desperately. "Roxas! Roxas, come back!"


	12. Chapter 12

"Roxas, wait!"

Axel followed the fuming blonde down the beach, trying to keep up as best he could in the sand. The night was fairly cool, the breeze chilling as dark waves crashed on the shore beside them, cooling the sand. Having left the house without his shoes, Axel quickly made his way to the water as he chased after Roxas, the running becoming instantly easier when he wasn't kicking up huge chucks of sand behind him. The waves toughed his feet every now and again, and he shivered at the cold, but mostly he was concerned with catching and consoling his friend. Roxas wasn't running away from him per say, it was more speed walking, but he wasn't responding or even turning to look at Axel.

"Damn it, Roxas! Stop!"

The redhead finally caught him, grabbing his arm firmly and tugging back towards him. Roxas struggled against him, but didn't turn around. With a heavy sigh, Axel pulled the smaller man into his chest and locked his arms firmly around him.

"Let go of me, Axel!"

"No. Not until you calm down and listen to what I have to say."

Roxas shook his head, kicking and thrashing more. "No! You're a liar!"

Axel responded by hugging him tighter, his voice gentle, but still firm and uncompromising.

"No I'm not, and I'm not letting go. I can do this all night if you want."

The blonde struggled against him for a few more minutes before he slowly began to calm down. He was still looking firmly forward, refusing to look at Axel, but his breathing was heavy and hard, as if he had just run a marathon and had yet to cool down. He wouldn't be able to resist much longer.

Axel smiled a little triumphantly, relaxing his hold. When Roxas seemed docile enough, he gripped his shoulders gently and turned him to face him. He didn't entirely expect what he saw...

He was expecting Roxas to be angry with him. Even though he had always seemed needy, Axel could feel there was a backbone in there somewhere. A backbone that could snap and turn him into a fierce, sharp-tongued firecracker at any time. But the eyes that looked back at him were broken and sad, not full of fire as he thought they would be. They weren't even begging, but hopeless; helpless. They brimmed with tears of exhaustion and heartbreak, and despite himself, Axel couldn't help but feel his heart ache slightly at the sight of them. Eyes that beautiful should never look so sad; it just wasn't right.

Staring into those blue pools, Axel couldn't help but wonder how many times he'd been broken before. And how many times he had broken himself over Axel. He reached out a hand to touch the blonde's cheek. "Roxas..."

"Why?"

Instead of slapping his hand away, Roxas grabbed it tightly in his own, squeezing with almost painful pressure. His eyes became a bit livelier then, slowly filling with desperation as he looked up at the stunned redhead.

"Why, Axel? Why am I never good enough for you?" With another loud sob, Roxas pitched forward, practically falling into his arms. Axel jerked back to his senses then, catching him and gasping as strong hands gripped his arms. How could such a fragile little thing have this much strength in him?

Roxas laid his head on Axel's chest and cried openly, wetting the shirt with his heavy tears. "Y-You never g-give me a chance. E-Every time you say you w-will, but you never d-do! W-Why won't you love me?"

The redhead slowly lowered himself to the ground, bringing Roxas down with him. Once seated, he pulled the younger man back slightly and looked into his eyes.

"Roxas, you didn't let me explain. Saix forced himself on _me. _I would never have kissed him otherwise."

The blonde sniffled, his eyes narrowing slightly at him. "Y-You weren't exactly pushing him away."

Axel shook his head lightly. He didn't feel like going into all this shit right now.

"He was drunk, Roxas."

"That doesn't make it right!"

Suddenly, the blonde pushed forward, and Axel found a pair of warm lips meeting his own as he was pushed back hard into the sand. Roxas crawled up his body and straddled him, somehow never breaking the kiss as his hands clasped Axel's arms and pushed down firmly, pinning him on his back. His mouth worked itself forcefully against Axel's, thrusting his tongue in immediately when the redhead gasped in surprise. His breath was warm and smelled of alcohol, but the latter was barely registering for Axel. There was nothing meek or hesitant about this kiss; it was fierce and dominating and, to Axel's surprise, increasingly hot. He hadn't dreamed about _this part..._

_Damn.._.

Axel panted hard, staring up at the blonde with hazy, surprised eyes as he pulled away. The tear stains were gone, now replaced by a deep blush; narrowed, hungry eyes looking down at him seductively. Before Axel could even voice his confusion, Roxas leaned over him again, slowly this time...

"What is it that I can't give you, Axel?" Roxas shifted lower slightly, smirking when Axel groaned at the contact. "I can be anything you want me to be, so...hic...why...?"

At first the sound confused him, but he quickly understood. _He's drunk, _Axel realized. The tint in his cheeks wasn't just from the cold or embarrassment; the man had had too much to drink. Even now, just barely noticeable in the dark, he was swaying slightly, still gazing down at Axel with hazy, lusty eyes.

Roxas leaned down again and stopped mere inches from his lips.

"Don't you _want _me?" he breathed.

Axel shivered at that. Yes, he did want him. He wanted him _badly. _If not for the crying and self-doubt, this new Roxas was dead _sexy._

As much as he would have loved to roll the blonde over and fuck him until he lost his voice, screaming in pleasure, he just couldn't. Not when Roxas was upset and confused and probably wouldn't even remember it the next morning. Axel couldn't do that to him.

He'd made a promise to help and care for the blonde, and he was not going to break it here, no matter how much his libido argued otherwise...

The redhead sat up slowly, firmly pushing Roxas back onto his knees. The blonde blinked at him, the haze leaving those eyes in favor of more tears.

"W-Wha...? Why?" he whined, sounding like a small child who'd had a promise broken.

Not wanting to reject him outright, Axel took his cheek tenderly in one hand and gave the blonde another kiss, this one sweet and nurturing where the other had been hot and demanding. The blonde hummed softly, wrapping his arms around Axel's neck and nibbling at his lower lip. Once or twice, Roxas _did_ try to take it further, pressing forward with his tongue and even opening his mouth willingly for Axel's, but the redhead didn't indulge him. He kept it simple, despite the other man's attempts and his own desires, and, when he finally pulled away, he gave the pouting blonde another quick kiss on his cheek.

"Not tonight, Roxas," he chided gently, tapping the tip of his nose lightly. Just when the blonde looked ready to argue, Axel's finger moved to his lips. "I _do _want you. Make no mistake about that. I could write a novel about how much I want you. But you're drunk. It's not the right time."

Roxas looked down and away from him, glaring at the sand. "Mmm not drunk."

"Yes, you are." Axel slowly stood and pulled the blonde into his arms bridal-style. He chuckled, seeing the cute pout still firmly on his lips. Even that was a bit sexy.

"You're not going to make this easy on me, are you?"

The blonde said nothing to that, but leaned back into those warm arms and sighed heavily. Axel shook his head, a small, helpless smile playing on his lips. Maybe, if he helped Roxas see past his own insecurities, he would get to see that fierce, confident, sexy side of him again. He looked forward to that _immensely_...

"Let's go home now."

Thankfully, there was no sign of Saix when they returned. Marluxia did stop and question them at one point, asking where they'd been, but Axel answered his questions casually. He felt decently sober by now. He must have sounded so too, because the pink-haired man accepted his answers easily enough, before turning away to go look for Larxene.

Zexion and Demyx were no where to be seen. And thankfully, nowhere to be heard.

Axel carried Roxas up the stairs to their room, noting how the younger man had practically become dead weight in his arms. Somehow, he had the feeling that, were the blonde not intoxicated, he would have been a lot more nervous about getting in bed with Axel, if only just because of the past. But Axel had promised never to hurt him that way. Those days were well behind him, and Roxas's trust was important to him. _Kairi_ was important to him, too.

He set the blonde down on the edge of the bed and helped him as he clumsily struggled into his pajamas, shaking his head when Roxas giggling as he got stuck in some thing or other. The redhead chuckled and helped him patiently, taking the opportunity to ogle a bit before pushing him into bed and getting himself ready. Once the two of them were under the covers, Roxas snuggled close and even started rubbing his leg against Axel's, but the redhead smacked him lightly upside the head.

"Ow! Wha was zat for?" he mumbled irritably.

Axel just nuzzled his hair softly, letting his eyes slipped closed.

"Go to sleep, Roxas."

The younger man whined at first, but it wasn't long before he complied. Barely a minute passed, and the two were out like a light.

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The next morning was awkward, to say the least. Saix was found sleeping in the coat closet by the door, though how he got there was a mystery to him. Sora was up early making breakfast for everyone, but Riku didn't stumble out of bed until almost 12:30 a.m. Larxene had fallen asleep on the couch in a bra and short shorts, and Xion scurried around the house looking for their other clothes, a light blush on her cheeks and her dark hair a rumpled, frizzy mess.

Demyx and Zexion seemed to have indeed become an item overnight. The blonde sat at one of the barstools at the counter eating a bowl of sugary cereal, while the darker-haired man read the paper in the seat next to him. Now, it seemed wherever Demyx went, Zexion would follow, claiming that, if nothing else, he'd "keep the idiot from hurting himself." Demyx laughed sheepishly at that, wrapping an arm around his waist and cuddling the other man closer. Zexion just turned the page casually, not looking up.

Axel and Roxas, however, woke up in a slightly different way.

"Ow..."

The redhead's eyes fluttered open. He looked in search of the strange sound for only a moment before realizing it was coming from the place beside him. Looking down, he saw one very messy-haired blonde with his face down buried in the pillow, moaning and groaning like his head was going to explode. Blinking up at the window next, Axel saw the sun seeping through the window, brightening the whole room as birds outside chirped loudly.

The redhead couldn't help but laugh.

"It's not funny," the other man groaned weakly, turning slightly so one very unamused eye could glare at him from out of the corner. Axel laughed despite him.

"Hungover, Roxy? That's a shame." He got up and stretched on the bed, letting out a satisfied yawn as his back cracked. "I feel great!"

"Good for you. Now shut up. Head hurts."

Axel grinned back at him.

"Awww...I'm hurt, Roxy. Didn't you enjoy our first time sleeping together in so long?"

Roxas's blue eyes widened slightly with alarm, and he sat up quickly, making sure he was still dressed; his hangover temporarily forgotten. Axel laughed at him again, placing a hand on his shoulder lightly.

"I'm kidding, Roxas. You're fine."

The blonde looked up at him nervously, a deep blush tinting his cheeks. "Did I...?"

"Nope. You just danced on the tables naked and burst out in off key Abba songs."

Roxas stared at him blankly for a moment, before reaching up to rub his forehead irritably.

"You're an ass..."

Axel smiled and leaned in to kiss his forehead. Roxas seemed surprised by the move at first, but he didn't object. In fact, he let out a pleased little hum as cool lips met his throbbing head, until Axel slowly pulled away again.

Then, much to Roxas's surprise, he was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"To be perfectly honest, I _did _see a rather interesting side of you last night." Before the blonde could ask, Axel titled his chin up and pressed his lips to Roxas's quickly, delving into his mouth immediately when he gasped his surprise. It was hot and demanding, like last night, but from Axel's side this time, and Roxas whimpered lightly as he found his mouth invaded forcefully by the older man's tongue. He didn't fight it, though. It was awkward, but felt so good.

He was melting even as Axel pulled away, his eyes confused but slightly hazy with pleasure. Axel grinned wider.

"I'd like to see that side again sometime. It suits you."

With that last word, he let go of Roxas and headed for the bathroom, leaving the bewildered, half-aroused blonde behind in shock.


	13. Chapter 13

Everyone went down to the beach that day to play out in the sun. Riku and Demyx dug out a couple of boogie boards, even though the waves didn't look too impressive anyway, and Sora even had a goofy little pair of water wings. He didn't seem too embarrassed about them, though. The man had never really learned to swim all that well, but as long as ocean wasn't too rough, he would be fine. That didn't stop Larxene from teasing him relentlessly about it though.

Axel stood at the edge of the sand, watching dubiously as the tide pulled in and out. The water even touched his foot once, and he hissed at the sheer freezing temperature of it. He'd never really liked water that much. He thought everyone else was absolutely insane for getting in it.

"A-Aren't you going out?"

The redhead turned to see a familiar blonde standing just a few feet up the beach, looking at him curiously. The small, nervous stutter told him that Roxas was still embarrassed about the night before, as a light blush that couldn't possibly be sunburn tinted his pale cheeks. Axel rolled his eyes with a small grin and sat down on the sand.

"Nah. Water and I don't get on too well."

Roxas took a few steps closer, raising a delicate eyebrow. "Then why'd you come along?"

"To drink and hang out with my old high school buds," he replied simply, shrugging his shoulders. The sun felt nice on a day like this; it'd be a while before the heat began to get oppressive. He figured by then he'd just retreat back to the house and make a sandwich or something. The ocean was only _so_ interesting for so long...

The blonde came up beside him and sat down, digging his toes into the sand with a small smile.

"Mind if I stay here with you for a minute? I need to work my way out."

Axel flashed a debonair smile. "Not at all, Roxy." His smiled turned triumphant as the blush spread a bit darker over the other man's face. He was fun to tease when he was flustered...

They sat for a few moments, watching Sora floating aimlessly out on the waves as Demyx and Riku rode their boards around him. The latter of the two swam up to the smiling brunette and ruffled his damp hair roughly, causing Sora to duck under slightly. All spectators watched, amused, as the two's antics dissolved into a kick and splash fight, with Demyx joining in and practically bellyflopping between them.

"Men are such dorks," Larxene groaned, rolling her eyes at them. But she was smiling as she said it all the while. Xion nodded shyly and the two slowly made their way out into the water, as Larxene shrieked about the cold for a good minute and a half. The two girls swam away from the splashing boys, content to be off in their own little world.

Roxas chuckled lightly. "Demyx is such a spaz."

"Eh, he's alright. I'm sure he's bummed that Zexion didn't want to come outside." Axel looked back at the house briefly, shrugging. The purple-haired man seemed to have some unholy aversion to the sun, because as soon as Sora had said the word "beach" that morning, he had retreated back to his room with a couple old VHS tapes and a few old moth-bitten novels he'd picked up around the place. Whatever. Some people just weren't the outdoorsy type.

"Well, he seems to be having fun."

Axel smiled out at the bunch of them. "Yep." This brought back so many memories. Looking at the job he was in and all the added stresses adulthood brought, there were sometimes that he really missed being a kid. Even before he'd started sleeping around. Goofing around with these guys, having no cares in the world but schoolwork. Thos were the days...

He took a moment to regard the blonde sitting next to him. Roxas was laying back a bit on the sand, wearing just a simple pair of blue swim trunks with a tiny wave symbol looking painted on the side. Following the man's eyes, Axel could tell he wanted to go out there and spend a bit of time with his brother, but at the same time, this was some of the only time they could get to spend time together without also having to look after Kairi. Axel knew he should take advantage of this time, as well as make up for the misunderstanding before. He wanted things to be good between them...

"So, Roxas..." The blonde looked up and noticed he was being watched, blushing faintly again. It was cute. "What sort of stuff did you like to do growing up?"

Roxas blinked. "Uh, I don't know. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Axel replied, waving it off casually. "I'm just curious about you is all."

The blonde blushed again. Axel was beginning to wonder if Roxas could just do it on cue. Or was he really that shy? It seemed like such a contrast to what he had seen so far, but then again, the blonde seemed to mood-swing worse than a girl in her first pms fit. To be honest, it seemed a little messed up.

"Well, I guess...I like video games. Oh, and I used to skateboard with my friends after school..."

"Woah, really?" Axel looked at him intently. "Like a junior Tony Hawk?"

Roxas chuckled. "I wasn't nearly that good. I think I could only really do three tricks. But it was a fun way to kill time, when my friends and I weren't busy with school."

"Where did you go to school anyway?"

The blonde's look wilted a bit then.

"Hollow Bastian. My mother and I moved there when I was little, and I went there up until my last year of high school. Then she sent me back to my dad's place, because she didn't want me anymore..." The man looked down at his lap blankly, looking like he was struggling to keep a calm face. Axel looked over at him worriedly, reaching out to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The blonde didn't move. "It's in the past...at least, that's what I keep telling myself. I just don't get why she took my away just to give me up later when I became too much trouble? If she didn't want kids in the first place, why couldn't I have stayed with Sora?"

Axel wrapped his arm around the younger man and pulled him closer, meeting his surprised look calmly.

"I sort of get how that feels. My mom didn't stick around too long after I was born, so I stayed in one place with my dad. I don't even remember her at all." But somehow, he felt better off that way. The redhead wasn't one for emotional baggage; just a few years ago, he wasn't one for any kind of baggage, for that matter. Still, he let Roxas cuddle up to him, letting his head rest on his shoulder as the blonde looked up at him curiously. "It doesn't bug me, but then again, I never got attatched."

Roxas nodded slightly. "Do you ever think that...that maybe, if she had stuck around, you'd be different than you are now?"

Axel chuckled slightly, with just a small touch of bitterness. Roxas was wondering if he still would have been whoring around as a teen if he'd had a motherly influence in his life. The smaller man winced, but the damage had already been done. Axel just shrugged it off.

"Maybe. I don't dwell on it too much though. What's passed is past." He tried to look to the future, and be a better person than he was then. Come to think of it, he hadn't really thought that way until Roxas and Kairi had been dropped into his life.

The blonde looked back at the sea again, giving a little sigh.

"I guess you're right. But...what if there are some things where you just can't move on? Like, there's something holding you back?"

The redhead blinked. He began to wonder how messed up Roxas really was, and how he could have gotten that way. But he chose not to comment on it. Instead, he rested his chin on the blonde's head lightly, patting his arm reassuringly.

"If it gets to be a problem, you'll work through it. Everyone has the potential to grow and recover." Seeing Roxas about to protest, he quickly cut him off, smiling kindly. "I'll try to be there for you and help you when I can. That okay with you?"

Roxas took a moment, then nodded slowly. It seemed that would be enough for now. Axel patted him again and looked out to where the others were still playing in the water. He enjoyed the peaceful silence between them then, as Roxas leaned into him more and they spent a few moments just being in each other's company.

All was good, up until...

"Hey there."

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Axel turned his head slightly and shot an irritable look to the man behind them. Saix paid no mind and just sat down on the other side of Axel, shooting Roxas a glance that made the younger man shy away slightly. But another quick look down showed Axel that the blonde's eyes were narrowed with jealousy. He had to proceed carefully here.

"I'm sorry. Were the two of you having a moment?"

The redhead resisted the urge to tell him off, but Roxas beat him to it.

"Yeah, we are. So if you could just beat it, that'd be great." Wow. The kid was forward and snippy. He must still be pretty pissed about the night before. The blue-haired man just chuckled.

"Possessive much, brat? Or are you just jealous that I'm a better kisser?" He leaned closer to Axel and smirked, looking like some sort of feral dog with those gleaming yellow eyes, messy hair, and slightly pointed teeth.

"You thought so, didn't you, Axel? I can see it on your face."

Before Roxas had a chance to throw himself at Saix, Axel pulled the two of them to their feet. He was about to do something he hated, but it was a million times better than putting up with this.

"It was lousy. Now stop bothering my boyfriend, will you?" With that, he gripped Roxas's shoulders firmly, walking off into the icy water.

Axel almost hissed as the waves came up to his knees, feeling his teeth beginning to chatter a bit as well. But he did his best to bear with it. Soon enough, the two of them made it out to just about where the others were; the water reaching just below Axel's shoulders and practically up to Roxas's chin.

"Ignore him," he muttered in the smaller man's ear, feeling how Roxas was beginning to tense against him. He sighed. "He's just being a jerk. Don't let him get to you."

The blonde turned to face him, meeting his gaze seriously. "He really didn't mean anything? Last night I mean...?"

Axel rolled his eyes. "Of course not, you dork. I just wasn't expecting it. Really." When the blonde still looked skeptical, Axel leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

"You're a pretty good kisser. Especially when you're drunk."

Roxas blushed at that, turning away from him and swimming closer to his brother and the rest of the gang. Axel smiled, quickly following as Demyx waved him over.

"Hey, Ax! Want to play Marco Polo?"

He chuckled back. "What are we, four? Besides, you're terrible at any game that involves stealth and silence."

The tall blonde pouted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Riku straddled his board and managed to stay on it with ease. There weren't too many big waves today after all.

"Don't sweat it, Dem. It just means you have a giant yap."

They all laughed at him until the man got fed up and began splashing again. They were so busy playing around that almost no one was paying attention to the surf...

"Are you guys through being stupid yet? You should go apply some sunblock before you start looking like deranged tomatoes like Axel!" Larxene called, pulling Xion along with her by the arm. All the shorter people had to swim in that depth, and she seemed to be struggling a little. As Axel looked closer, he also saw that he nose and cheeks were beginning to look a bit pink.

"Hardy har," he growled back. "What's the matter, girls? You need to go in and reapply makeup?"

"Shut up, dipshit! I didn't come here to play babysitter! If you all burn to crisps, I'll be laughing tonight!" With that, she and Xion made their way in, riding the small waves that pushed them toward shore.

"Women," Axel scoffed. "I'll never understand them."

Riku, who had handed his board over to Sora so that he could just sit on it, sniggered slightly.

"Says the guy who takes three hours to style his hair."

"Oh, that's it!"

Riku and Axel began wrestling in the water, entertaining the rest of them. Sora laughed as he struggled to balance himself on the board, and Roxas just smiled, occasionally glance toward shore for any sign of Saix. When Axel finally broke away from his little fight, he let a small wave carry him over until he almost smacked into the distracted blonde.

"Hey!" Roxas giggled slightly, pushing him off. "Watch it! You could've knocked me over!"

The redhead reached out quickly and pulled the younger man against his chest, chuckling as he immediately began to squirm.

"Hey, guys! Look at what I found in the ocean!" He lifted Roxas out of the water slightly, hearing him squeak with surprise. "Can I keep him? Can I? Can I?"

Demyx laughed. "Only if I get joint custody!"

"H-Hey! Don't I get a say in this?"

It wasn't until Demyx turned his head that anyone even noticed what was approaching on the horizon.

"Big wave coming! Dive! Dive! Dive!" The tall blonde dove under, as did several of the others; Axel unceremoniously dropped Roxas back into the water, ignoring the splutter of protest and pushing him under with him. They narrowly avoided being hit by the random large wave.

When the group surfaced again, they all looked about, making sure everyone had dodged in time.

"Hey, has anyone seen Sora?"

And then they heard a frantic yell from the shore. Axel turned fast, eyes widened to see Larxene and Xion standing ankle-deep in the water, the former crouching beside a battered looking Sora. The brunette wasn't moving very much, from what the redhead could see, but he instantly heard the others making their way to shore, and followed suit. Riku and Roxas were the first ones to reach him.

"Is he alright? What happened?" Roxas asked worriedly.

The silver-haired boy cursed. "He must not have jumped off the board when the wave came." The little velcro strap was still secure on his wrist where he lay, the board drifting back and forth slightly in the tide beside him. Roxas instantly went to remove it, while Riku settled beside his fiance and checked for signs of breathing. The man has a few scraps here and there, probably from where the wave had rolled him under against the sand. There was no movement from his chest at all; no rise or fall to give them any indication.

"Maybe he hit his head?" Demyx offered, as he felt onto the shore with a heavy splash.

"Come on, Sora." Riku began administering CPR, pressing his chest a few times before trying to resuscitate him. The others looked on worriedly; even Larxene was watching quietly, anxiously. The tense silence was only broken when Saix stumbled up behind them.

"What the heck happened here?"

Roxas shot him an angry look. "What does it look like? My brother-"

Sora's eyes snapped open quickly, and the man shot up and began to cough, almost clonking Riku on the head in the process. As the silverette sat back to give his fiance more room, Roxas instantly took the place at his side.

"Oh god, Sora. Are you okay? W-What happened?"

The brunette coughed again, rubbing his head with a small wince. "That wave sent me rolling. I hit a rock somewhere down there. Don't remember much after that."

"I'm just glad you're alright." The blonde pulled his brother into a tight hug, murmuring softly, "Don't you _ever _scare me like that again."

Sora gave a small, hoarse laugh, patting his brother's back comfortingly as he gave Riku a reassuring smile.

"I'll try not to."

Axel stood back a little ways, giving them all the room they needed. It was good to see that his friend was going to be okay. This was precisely one of the reasons he didn't like the water too much. He'd gotten over it a bit since then, but as a boy, he used to have this horrible fear of drowning. It was awful to picture; suffocating as icy cold water filled your lungs. Not the kind of death he'd wish on anyone, even his enemies.

He almost jumped when he felt a familiar large hand touch his back.

"They look like a couple of cute kids, don't they?" Axel rolled his eyes, seeing Saix come around from behind him. Did he honestly have to keep flirting? Was this really the time?

"Why go for a little kid when you can have a _man?_" The hand on his back slid lower and squeezed, making Axel's eye twitch slightly. He immediately moved away from the blue-haired man, giving him an annoyed look.

"What is with you?" he growled, unaware that it was a bit louder than he intended it to be. "I already said it! I'm not now, nor will I ever be interested in you! So back off!"

Saix's gaze didn't drop, not even when the others were staring at them. Sora and Roxas looked both confused and a bit put off, while Riku was just looking on thoughtfully, his expression a bit unreadable. Larxene's look was similar to his, and Xion just looked baffled. Demyx looked between the two men in question nervously for a moment.

"O-kaaaayyy...On that note, who wants ice cream?"


	14. Chapter 14

The rest of the day only got more awkward. When the gang moved inside and decided to put on a movie, Saix proceeded to sit on the other side of Axel. All through the afternoon he shamelessly continued to flirt with the redhead, despite Axel making it _very _clear that he wasn't interested.

Roxas didn't say much throughout it all, but Axel could see him always, if only out of the corner of his eye. The younger man's face looked rigid, like he was using all his willpower to keep from looking upset. He looked decidedly uncomfortable, sitting in an equally rigid position even with Axel's arm slung around his shoulders. The redhead was sure he wasn't catching much of the movie either; his ears seemed to twitch a little at every comment Saix made, and his eyes looked a little too dull to be paying attention, even during the biggest and most ridiculous of Michael Bay explosions.

Axel knew Saix was getting to the both of them. He had to do something...

"I'm going out for a walk," he said rather calmly, after the movie finally ended. He got up from the couch, slapping Saix's wandering hand away yet again.

Sora, among several others in the group, looked at him worriedly.

"You okay, Axel?"

Internally sighing, the redhead gave him a small, somewhat pained smile.

"Yep. Just needing some air is all." He then turned to the little blonde still sitting rigidly on the couch. Snapping his fingers in front of the man's face, he waited for the blink and slow raise of those eyes before he spoke again.

"Come with me, Rox. It'll do us both some good."

Roxas blinked again, looking more sad than confused this time as he nodded. Axel offered him a hand and pulled him up with astonishing ease, before leading the smaller man downstairs to the front door. Axel almost expected that Saix to follow, but thankfully Larxene stopped him halfway to the stairs with something. Maybe she'd call him out on the shit he pulled, maybe not. Larxene was never one for tact or subtlety, but Axel was confident she DID know that this wasn't really her business.

It was up to him and Roxas to deal with this problem.

The blonde said nothing as he walked with Axel to the sidewalk. The redhead smiled down at him, patting him on the shoulder softly.

"Let's head this way til we reach the boardwalk, okay?" The boardwalk wouldn't be too crowded this afternoon. This was the time when this week's tourists were all trying to get home and the new tourists were just getting in. It would be pretty relaxed until the night, and the salty sea air had a way of calming you, just listening to the waves and seagulls and watching the tide roll in and out.

Roxas nodded quietly, following beside Axel as they walked toward the shopping area. A nice stroll through the neighborhood was pretty nice too; the houses were pretty peaceful with no one out and about but a few families packing their cars. Only once in that long, silent journey did Axel have to catch a frisbee and toss it back, but it was a nice breakup honestly. Roxas didn't seem keen on talking at the time, and Axel was in no hurry to force him.

Instead, for most of the walk, Axel concentrated on how much he just liked being around Roxas. It was different from many of the dates he'd had since college. Roxas didn't prattle on incessantly like the girls he'd been out with before, but still, somehow, he was more girlish than any of the guys he'd dated as well. The blonde was like a girl, but without the anatomy. He didn't seem to be very reserved in terms of emotion, but Axel could see how it embarrassed him, and even sometimes helped him reign in those emotions and keep it all inside. It seemed like he still kept too many things inside; things Axel wanted to know.

Smiling down at the blonde, who's attention seemed to be elsewhere at the moment, Axel snuck his arm around slowly until he reached the man's arm. He began rubbing soothingly, drawing a startled glance from the smaller man, as he pulled him closer. But though Roxas seemed initially surprised by the action, he didn't object to it at all. If anything, he leaned closer to Axel, walking just so they could hold each other a bit, but not so that it made walking difficult. The redhead was sure he even got a tired little smile from the blonde, but since he looked ahead so quickly, it could have just been his imagination.

Once they reached the boardwalk, Axel walked him over to the bar railing on the edge of the planks. Letting go slowly, the redhead leaned down to rest his arms across the bar, looking out at the ocean, seeing peripherally that Roxas did the same. The water was a gorgeous deep blue, and just a little further down the beach, they could see a small group of children running in and out of the surf. A couple tall boys with boards, a few shorter girls who couldn't seem to get past the cold, and one or two toddlers with little pails and shovels. The lifeguard seemed to be shouting at some of them, probably asking where their parents were...

Axel glanced over at Roxas then, happy to see him chuckling at the scene. Based on how quiet he had been before, the redhead had worried that he'd begun doubting Axel's feelings toward him again. Which was silly, if he paid attention to the man's reactions to Saix at all.

"You okay, Roxy?"

The blonde looked at him for a moment, then sighed.

"Yeah. I think so. Just tired."

Axel pulled him close again, resting his face against the blonde's hair. It smelled faintly of salt water, but it wasn't even damp anymore.

"You're not letting that asshole get to you, are you?"

Another sigh from the smaller man. He felt Roxas shift slightly, hugging him loosely as he spoke.

"I guess so. It's just so hard, you know? No matter what we say, he's not backing off. I don't even get it!"

Axel patted his back for a moment, pulling back a little so he could see those blue eyes. They looked a little wet, but so far he'd felt nothing through his shirt. And the blonde's cheeks were clear of tears.

It made him smile a little. Roxas must have known he cried too frequently, so he was trying his best not to this time. But it didn't really matter to Axel at all. He was committed to staying with the blonde and helping him, even loving him if he could. And Axel found that he was put off by those tears, not as much as he used to be. Roxas was just worrying about him, no matter how silly it was.

He brushed the man's cheek softly with his free hand, smiling sadly. "I guess he just never got past what happened in high school."

Blue eyes widened a little. "What happened?" he asked nervously, a small hint of accusation in his tone, as his eyes narrowed a little again.

"We 'dated,' you could say. Not much else." Axel paused for a moment, realizing. "I guess he thought it was more serious than it was."

Roxas looked a little betrayed. "Did you...you know...?"

"Have sex with him?" The blonde nodded shakily, and for a moment Axel debated whether or not he should tell him. But no, it was important to know. Besides, what would happen if Saix dropped that bomb on Roxas at some point, when he wasn't suspecting it? That would be a disaster.

Axel pulled back slightly and grabbed the blonde's shoulders firmly. He could sense the smaller man readying himself to bolt after this.

"Yes. I did."

There was no movement for a full two minutes, as Roxas was letting that sink in. Then, just as he predicted, the blonde began trying to squirm out of his grasp. His head was down, but Axel could already see the tears streaming down.

"Roxas, would you just wait a minute?" the redhead snapped, a little harshly, as the squirming turned to thrashing. He knew that if he weakened at all, Roxas would slip away and run. And, while Axel could admit THIS aspect of the blonde's personality was frustrating as hell, he was determined to hold tight and explain everything. Roxas couldn't delude himself into making this a betrayal against him.

"Roxas, calm down! Let me explain!"

"No! I knew something was going on between you two!" the man shouted back, trying to wrench his arms away. "You lied to me!"

"No I didn't!" Axel growled a little, pulling the blonde so that his back hit his chest, then fastening his arms tightly around him. He waited for Roxas to stop fighting, which took longer tonight, now with the man being sober. But soon the thrashing had stopped completely; the blonde only trembled now, gripping Axel's arms tightly as sobs wracked his body. He slumped a little in Axel's hold, but the man held him up firmly, ignoring the slight pain as strong little hands squeezed his arms.

"Roxas, I didn't lie to you. If anything, I told you the truth because I trust you, and I don't want you to be hurt by it if Saix says something later." Axel whispered softly in the shaking man's ear, ignoring the curious stares of the occasional passersby. He needed to speak here.

"Yes, I did sleep with him, but it was long before I met you. I was still just a dumb kid in high school when I met him, and like most dumb kids, I was curious about what it was all about. So I had sex with him."

Roxas sniffled loudly, but he didn't interrupt. If anything, he clung to Axel even tighter, but the older man knew he was still listening. He smiled ruefully.

"It hurt a lot. I didn't like it one bit. He wanted to keep seeing me afterward, but to be honest, I was scared. I thought sex was always going to hurt like hell. For a while I didn't trust anyone. I fell out with some of my friends too. Only Sora and Riku stayed by me, but they couldn't help too much. So after some time, I was willing to try again."

The blonde squeezed a little harder. He looked up to meet Axel's gaze, and the redhead saw a surprisingly calm expression. It was still nervous, and the tears were still there, but the man seemed to understand the fear and confusion sex had brought upon him. Axel could well imagine that was how Roxas felt after losing his virginity, especially to a jerk like himself.

"Did you...go back to him?"

Axel shook his head, almost laughing a little. "Hell no! He really did a number on me! I wasn't going back to him again!"

Roxas blushed slightly, only making the redhead laugh more.

"He wasn't thinking about it being my first time. He didn't care that much if he hurt me. No, when I went out to give it a second try, I asked a good friend to help me out. Someone who actually cared about me."

Roxas blinked. "Can I ask who?"

Axel paused for a moment. If he wanted Roxas to open up some more, he supposed it would help if he didn't keep any secrets from him.

"Larxene."

Blue eyes widened considerably then, more surprised than upset. "Really?"

He smiled. "Hey, she's caring when it comes to her friends."

A small, somewhat bemused smile crossed the smaller man's face. Axel was glad that he seemed to understand. It wasn't a betrayal, just the truth.

"But you didn't date her?"

"Nah. Wasn't really the dating type, remember?"

"But why not?"

Axel ruffled the curious blonde's hair softly, loosening his hold considerably. Roxas wouldn't run now.

"Let's just call it trust issues. That, and once the sex got good, I wanted to know just about everything about it. Believe it or not, there's a limit to what Larxene will agree to do, even for friends."

The smaller man blushed even darker, and Axel chuckled at his reaction. It was so cute, the way the blonde blushed all the way to his ears like that.

After a small pause, Roxas looked up at him again.

"But...would you ever leave me? You know, if I didn't-"

"If you didn't want to do something I wanted to?" The man nodded, looking for all the world like a nervous little boy. Axel smiled warmly, giving his arm a comforting squeeze. "I've seen and done a fair amount. Some of it I don't want to do again. For now, Roxy, I just want to get to know you."

Roxas looked up at him again, still a little unsure, but Axel kissed his cheek softly, encouraging him.

"We'll cross that bring when we come to it, okay? I want to..." Now it was Axel's turn to blush a little. "I want to...maybe love you."

The blonde looked startled for a second, but it was soon replaced by a warm, wonderful smile. Axel was frozen, captivated by its radiance, that he almost forgot to breathe when Roxas leaned up and brushed his soft lips against his. It wasn't hot or demanding, but sweet and filled with reassurance. Both were happy to return the affection, fully aware of the eyes on them but not caring in the least. When Roxas finally pulled away, his eyes were warm and hazy still, but now so happy and unafraid. He traced a hand over the redhead's cheek, almost reverently, and breathed softly.

"Thank you. I think...I'd like to maybe love you too."


	15. Chapter 15

If only things could have been settled that easily.

Back at the beach house, there came a sudden crash from downstairs, followed by raised voices. Sora set down the pan of chicken on the top of the stove and looked to Axel, who was sitting on the couch nearby, engrossed in another movie, with Demyx and Zexion beside him.

"Hey, Axel?" The redhead readily looked up when his name was called. "Could you go check what that noise was? I think Larxene and Xion just ran out, and I have no idea where Roxas ran off to."

"Sure, man." He squeezed out from the limited space on the couch, which the new couple promptly filled, snuggling. Axel had to chuckle at that as he left. He hadn't talked with Demyx too much this trip, but it really seemed like the blonde was happy.

He was just about to turn the corner as he reached the stairs, and froze.

"What the hell does Axel even see in you?"

Saix was on the second to last step, glaring down at Roxas who for some reason was on the ground, at the bottom of the stairs. He couldn't see down very far, but Axel was sure Roxas was very upset.

"You're a mousy, pathetic little freak. You're not worth anything. Just a burden to him."

"You're wrong!" In a sudden burst of energy, Roxas surprised Axel by rising to his feet quickly, somehow, and grabbing hold of the other man's shirt, shaking it a little. "I-I'm not worthless!"

"Oh yeah?" Saix snapped back. "I heard what happened between you two! He won't look twice at me now because of your stupid problems! If you weren't here, he'd be mine again!"

"You don't know Axel at all, do you?" Roxas shouted, his voice firmer this time. Not crying, but _shouting _at him. Axel couldn't help but blink. He hated seeing Roxas upset, but he felt a small swirl of price and admiration toward the man for showing a little backbone. "When will you stop being so selfish and just leave us alone?"

"Oh, _I'm _being selfish?" the taller man scoffed back, taking Roxas by the shoulders and shoving him back so that he staggered away. "He's only sticking with you because you had his baby!"

Roxas seemed to freeze at that, and Axel was poised to intervene. It looked like the man was beginning to doubt himself again, but before the redhead even took a step forward, Roxas snapped again.

"I didn't ask him to come back," he said, his voice soft, cold, "He offered to be with me, and since then he hasn't left. I'm not holding him against his will; he could leave anytime. But he doesn't." Raising his eyes to glare into Saix's, he spat, "I'm not just after him for a good lay."

"Why you-"

"That's enough." Axel pounded heavily down the steps before Saix could raise a hand against _his _Roxas. He roughly pushed past the blue-haired man and stood beside Roxas, wrapping an arm around him in a way that protected, claimed him. He wasn't going to take this nonsense anymore.

"Saix, you've been an ass this whole weekend. I don't care if you are Zexion's cousin or not, I'm not going to tolerate you pestering my boyfriend. I've asked you to leave us alone several times now, but you ignored it. Now I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

The man blinked at him, looking somewhere between angry and dumbfounded; a perfect mix of the two expressions.

"So, what...you're kicking me out? Because of this little bitch?"

"I'm going to throw you out soon if you don't hit the road. You can get your stuff now or have Zexion bring it back with him, but either way, you're not welcome here any more," Axel said flatly, arms moving to cross over his chest. Somewhere out of the corner of his eye, he swore Roxas was looking at him, his mouth open just slightly. Yeah, most people would think Axel was a chill sort of guy, and he was more often than not. But he did have a temper for certain things, as most people also knew, and he wasn't afraid to lash out in accordance with that temper. Roxas had seen parts of it before, but they were more emotive. The redhead seemed so quiet now. Colder. And somehow, that almost seemed scarier than when he was animated.

"You can't do that!" Saix yelled, stomping his foot like an angry child.

"Oh yes he can."

All of them turned to see Larxene at the top of the stairs, a beer glass in one hand and a pack of cigarettes in the other. The one holding the carton was resting on her hip, and she gave Saix a smug, condescending look.

"The rest of us agree. You've been treating these two like shit the whole time we're here to have fun. We're sick of it, dude."

The man's golden eyes narrowed. "Zexion invited me, so he says when I go."

"Oh, do you want me to call him? Fine." The blonde woman called over her shoulder, and before long the man appeared at the top of the stairs, a confused and slightly edgy-looking Demyx on his arm.

"What she says. Go home" He said curtly, turning and disappearing just a quickly as he came. Demyx cast a long look over his shoulder as he was pulled away again, but everyone else was watching Saix fume.

"This isn't fair!"

"No, it's not," Axel said. "It's not fair to any of us to have to sit here and take this bullshit. Stop living in a past that wasn't even real." And with that, Axel's arm went around Roxas again, leading the boy past the seething man and up the stairs. He nodded to Larxene, who gave him a faint smile back. She knew about everything and was willing to stand up for him. Despite her sometimes-harsh exterior, she really was one of the best friends he could ever have hoped for. For once, this intervention was much appreciated.

Knowing that she'd take care of Saix if he refused to leave, Axel finally let out a deep breath as they headed back to the kitchen. Sora looked up from his cooking briefly and gave them both the smallest smile before he was back at work again. Axel pulled the smaller man to a stop and slowly looked him over, meeting his still wide eyes.

"You okay, kid?" A cursory look showed no bad injuries from him falling down the stairs. He did have a small purple-ish mark on his cheek, which the redhead proceeded to check carefully out of instinct.

Roxas blushed and looked away, obviously embarrassed. "I-I'm fine. How much of that did you hear?"

"Pretty much all of it." The blonde winced a little at that, but Axel pretended not to notice. "I was surprised at you. Sometimes you seem so fragile, and then you turn around and become a little tiger all of the sudden." His tone was warm, and a smile was beginning to take over the previously lightly worried expression.

Roxas looked up quickly, eyes wider. "Is that good? I mean, uh..."

Axel chuckled, leaning down a little as he cupped Roxas's face gently. "I like it. But really, kid, I just want you to be you. Whatever you want to be is fine by me."

The blonde smiled, standing on his toes a little to meet the kiss. "Axel..." It was warm and affectionate again, until the hooting from the couch nearby made the smaller man jolt away quickly.

"Woohoo! Make out party!" Demyx yelled loudly, pulling the unsuspecting Zexion in for a smooch.

"Make out party?" Riku smirked as he strode into the kitchen, having woken up from his nap. "Sounds good to me." He grabbed Sora, spun him around in a perfect 180, and kissed him full on the mouth. Now, only Roxas and Axel were parted from the other couples, and Axel was barely holding back snorts of laughter at how ridiculous it all was. Even Roxas was chuckling at them, his blush slowly fading in favor of a blissful glow. He looked much more at ease with Saix gone, and to be truthful, Axel felt a weight off his chest as well. He was glad Zexion sided with them, and decided not to make everything super awkward.

"Ah, man orgy!" Larxene yelled dramatically as she came back upstairs, sweeping a hand over her eyes. "It burns! It burns us!"

"What's with all the noise?" a small, meek voice said, coming slowly down from the upstairs. Soon, Xion appeared behind Larxene. "I thought I heard- Oh my God!"

"What?" Axel chuckled, seeing the brush spreading over the smaller girl's face. "It's nothing you haven't seen before."

"The testosterone levels are over 9000!" Larxene cried again. "Xion, shield your innocent eyes!"

"Innocent my ass!" Axel suddenly became aware of a hand sneaking into his, and glanced over to see Roxas smiling up at him, a little less shyly than normal. Smiling wider, he squeezed back gently, turning when he heard Riku chuckle.

"Well, now that we've officially scarred them for life, who wants to order pizza?"

Sora looked up at him instantly, miffed. "But Riku, I was making dinner!"

"So? We have cause to celebrate." He kissed the brunet's forehead softly. "Finish that, then put it away. We can have it for lunch tomorrow."

His lover pouted, looking at the floor with slight annoyance. "Well, I guess...Fine. But you have to promise to eat something I bake next time!"

The silver-haired man winced, and Axel could imagine why. When it came to cooking, Sora was a decent chef. But baking was another story; one that's recurring theme was "everything he touches burns." Sort of like Axel, though Axel rarely ever tried to make food on his own. Sometimes he just liked to watch stuff burn.

"Deal. Now somebody get Demyx off of Zexion." They all laughed, seeing that the blonde had not moved nor been part of the conversation at all, still intent on sucking face with the shorter man. For his part, Zexion looked a bit dazed when it was all over. Maybe the heat of it overwhelmed him, but Axel suspected more that it was the lack of air going to his brain.

So they ordered out that night, watched movies, and broke out the games. There was some drinking, but not to the same extent as the previous night. Mostly they just enjoyed sitting around a game Trains, chatting in a relaxed atmosphere among close friends. And when it was over, it was almost one, and Roxas slowly, somewhat nervously followed Axel back to their room. Tonight it meant something different, sharing a bed, because he was sober. He would be overly conscious of it, unable to escape it, and that could potentially torment Roxas all night. Axel noticed his inner turmoil from his face once they were inside and closed the door.

"You still okay with sharing a bed?"

Roxas gave a slight, hesitant nod. Sora and Riku's bed would be..._occupied, _most likely, and probably Demyx and Zexion's too. Larxene and Xion's was out of the question, mostly because Larxene seemed to be a violent kicker in her sleep. Only Xion could put up with it or fight back, it seemed.

"Y-Yeah."

Axel gave the blonde a warm smile, tugging him over to the bed. "Want to try something then?"

Roxas looked even more nervous. "W-W-What kind of something?"

"Here, I'll show you." He sat the man down on the bed and proceeded to pull his shirt off slowly. Roxas's breath hitched when he felt the material being lifted away, a small shudder settling on his upper body as it was removed. He looked up, blushing darkly, to see Axel eyeing him slightly, smiling. They hadn't seen each other like this since that time, and it wasn't exactly great memories. A night Axel didn't even remember, and an awkward morning. The redhead truly regretted it now. The blonde was gorgeous.

"W-What about you?"

Axel smiled wider, lowering his hands to the hem of his shirt as he sat down. "Want to help?"

Roxas looked unsure for a moment, but seeing the redhead waiting for him, he seemed to come to a decision. His hands shaking slightly, they moved forward and grasped them hem as well, lifting with Axel and pulling it away. Getting an eyeful of the redhead's chest, Roxas blushed even darker yet, and Axel chuckled, pulling the unsuspecting boy in for a hug.

Roxas trembled slightly against his bare skin, cheek pressed to his chest, but Axel whispered soothing words in his ear. "Don't be scared. We won't do anything, I promise." He then ran his hands over every inch of the smaller man's back and shoulders, rubbing and holding gently, as he nuzzled his face into soft blonde hair.

"You're cute, Roxy."

As the blonde calmed slowly, he hesitantly brought his hands out from where they had been crushed against Axel's chest and slowly began mimicking the other man's actions, tracing over the skin he remembered so well. Axel made no move to push his hands lower, just held him and enjoyed the feel of the younger man. He looked so much younger like this; Roxas's body was lean and small, more so than his own, and his skin was smooth, but firm under his hands. He kept his movements slow and predictable, tracing circles now as Roxas became more comfortable touching him...

They sat like that for a short time, enjoying the feel and affections of one another. It wasn't sexual, per say, but it was a step in that direction, and frankly, Axel was relieved. Though he would never try to force anything on the other man, he had hoped that their previous sexual encounter hadn't scarred Roxas, making him not want to try anything new. Though he seemed to be okay with kissing...

Speaking of which. Axel pulled away from where his face had been resting in Roxas's hair. He leaned down and captured the blonde's lips in a slow, sultry kiss, but kept his hands firmly still on the man's shoulders. He didn't want to push his luck.

Roxas let out a soft moan and pressed closer, his tongue delving deeper into Axel's mouth and hands clutching slightly at his back. He was panting heavily after a few minutes, though, and Axel decided that would be enough for one night. He looked down at the blonde, his expression warm, melted with affection.

"That's all I wanted. We'll stop here for tonight."

Roxas looked up, a little bewildered and maybe even disappointed? But Axel shrugged it off. "Come on. Let's get ready for bed."

Shortly they then turned to change into sleep pants individually, Roxas changing in the bathroom while Axel changed in the open. The redhead occasionally felt his eyes drifting towards the door, a soft smile still on his face. Little did he know, though, that Roxas was feeling the same, casting longing glances at the door as he shimmied into his pants on the other side.

Both were feeling pretty good about themselves.

They slept snuggled together, spooning with their shirts off. And though Roxas's heart did pound a little at first, the calming lull of Axel's heartbeat calmed him and put him to sleep in less than twenty minutes. In the sleeping redhead's arms, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he wasn't all that nervous after all.


	16. Chapter 16

Short, cuz I'm on vacation. Warning, the chapter contains heavy hinting. HEAVY hinting. No sex, as usual, but things related to the subject are hinted at. lol

* * *

Roxas melted in his arms, whimpering as Axel mouthed a small sensitive spot on his neck. He listened to every sound the younger man made, and already it was setting him on fire. With a small smirk, Axel pushed the blonde down onto his back on the bed and continued kissing his throat, hands moving to the buttons of his shirt, slowly but purposefully beginning to undo...

(Insert own mental image here)

"...Axel...Axell!"

The redhead's eyes snapped open, and he almost shot clear up out of the bed. He saw a flinch and looked quickly to the side, only to find Roxas sitting in bed beside him and staring at him like he'd lost his mind. Willing his heartbeat to rest, the man took several deep, even breaths, staring at his raised knees, still somewhat tangled in the bedcovers. For a moment he didn't know what was going on, what was real."

"A-Are you okay?" The redhead looked up to see that Roxas hadn't moved in the slightest. His face spelled worry, with a hint of mortification...No, scratch that. The blonde was blushing brightly now.

Axel blinked. "Uh...yeah. Just...a weird dream I guess." After a short pause, and what sounded like a nervous gulp from Roxas, he asked, "Was I doing something?"

If it was possible, Roxas went even redder. His hands played with the edge of the covers nervously, and he quickly looked down at that, making Axel blink again. The loss of eye contact only served to confuse him more. And what was with this feeling of warmth, a little heaviness?

"Y-You...um...You were t-talking in your sleep, and you...you...um." While the stuttering was very adorable, Axel motioned the younger man to get to the point. And point he did. Raising a small, shaking hand, Roxas extended his pointer finger and looked away.

When Axel realized that he was pointing down, to a very specific place, he flushed redder than his hair. He'd be dreaming about Roxas again, with him _right there, _and once again he was faced with a problem.

"Damn it! Uh, s-sorry!" And with that, he was sprinting, jumping out of bed and running before his feet even touched the floor. The bathroom door slammed behind him, and he clicked the lock to stay inside before sliding down onto his butt, back facing the door. That was so embarrassing, even for him! Never, apart from his first experience, had anything sexual been so mortifying or regretted in his life! He likened the level of embarrassment to that of a virgin getting his first boner in front of a whole mess of people.

And Roxas must have known he was the subject of the man's...situation. There could be little mistaking it. He would have to be ridiculously naive, and while Roxas was still somewhat innocent and fragile in mind, he couldn't have misunderstood it. Nobody could have.

Axel covered his face with his hands and smacked the fingers against his forehead. Stupid, stupid, stupid! How would Roxas react to that? He seemed uncomfortable pointing it out...

"A-Axel?" The redhead almost jumped, hearing that meek voice come suddenly through the door behind him. A small knock followed, a little late for courtesy. "Are you okay?"

Maybe the man had mistaken it after all...But no, that couldn't be right.

"Uh, y-yeah, Rox. Fine, I'm fine. Just...go on out and get some food, kay? I'll be out soon."

Maybe his worries wouldn't have been so big if he could have seen the blonde, for on the other side of the door, Roxas looked to where he would be with neither anger nor disgust. The tiniest smile crossed his lips; still a little nervous but far from disowning the redhead. In fact, if Axel could have seen into his mind, he would have seen that the man was flattered by it, though flustered as he was. Maybe even a little proud, that he could cause such a reaction with the redhead. For though he was still very shy at times, Roxas felt himself growing and learning more the more time he spent with Axel. It was more than the man had ever dared to hope.

"O-Okay. I hope you f-feel better." That was the last Axel heard before the blonde was gone.

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When Axel finally left their bedroom, he found everyone in the living room watching t.v. Sora was eating pancakes on the couch in Riku's lap, the taller man's arms wrapped firmly around his waist. Demyx was beside him, with Zexion on his other side, the latter looking pretty indifferent to everything, as usual. Marluxia, who seemed to have vanished for most of the weekend, was sitting on the floor beside Larxene and Xion. Larxene had a towel around her shoulders and was talking loud over the movie, brushing her hair. Xion nodded every once in a while, but as usual, said very little in response.

Roxas was also on the floor, but a little bit behind the group. His attention was set on the movie, but he looked up quickly when Axel came over, standing stiffly over him. Axel lowered slowly to the floor and sat down beside him, looking anywhere but the man's face. He didn't try to look at Roxas or read his expression, but the fact that he wasn't immediately scooting away comforted the redhead somehow.

"Uh...so," he murmured softly so no one else could hear. Roxas didn't move or stiffen at all. "I...um...I wanted to say...sorry about earlier." The redhead scratched the back of his head sheepishly, feeling his cheeks go red again. What was wrong with him today?

Roxas turned to him, a frown of concentration on his face. Before Axel could even flinch properly, the boy lightly slapped his shoulder. He waited for something else, but nothing came after that. The blonde just turned back and watched the movie. Axel leaned to the side and tried to gauge his reaction, not too subtly either, but the younger man's expression was...difficult. The redhead couldn't see if he was angry or not. He didn't look too angry.

When the movie was finally over, Roxas moved to push himself up off the floor. But Axel was quicker. He stood, towering over the blonde, and quickly took the man's face in both hands, looking into it, eyes narrowed slightly.

"What're you doing, Axel?" Roxas asked, his voice beginning to hint at exasperation.

"Kid, look at me honestly and tell me you're not mad at me," he said firmly.

"Huh? Mad at you?"

"Yep, that's what I said."

"I'm not mad at you," Roxas said, looking a little more confused now.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Really?"

"Really."

Axel held his face for a few minutes more, looking into those blue eyes seriously. When Roxas didn't budge, he took that to mean he was telling the truth. He slowly lowered his hands and took a deep breath, and was then surprised when the shorter man reached up and cupped his face in his hands. Axel blinked, feeling those warm, surprisingly unshaky hands on his cheeks, and Roxas's face quickly morphed into a faintly bemused smile.

"I-It's fine." Ah. There was the Roxas he knew. A light blush later, and the smile was wide and warm. "I know what you meant. I'm not upset, okay?" With that, the smaller man pulled him down and kissed his cheek. He let go a minute later, giving Axel another wide smile before he turned and walked away, shouting something to Sora about helping with the clean up. Touching his cheek, Axel couldn't help but smile and watch as the blonde walked away.


	17. Chapter 17

"Daddy!"

A tired smile crossed Roxas's face as Kairi rushed to the door, jumping into his arms and practically crushing his waist with hers. The little redhead still held on to that beat-up black doll somehow, even as she hugged him. Axel had a feeling that thing had survived much harsher treatment before. She never seemed to go easy on it, and yet it was still intact. "You're back!"

"Of course, silly. I told you I would be." He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. Kairi giggled, then seemed to notice Axel standing in the doorway.

"Carrothead!"

The older redhead gave a mock-horrified look. "Oh, come on! I'm still Carrothead?"

"Yup!" she beamed.

"Can't you call him 'Mommy' and me 'Daddy' instead?"

Roxas snorted, shooting him a look of playful ire over his shoulder. "Thanks, Axel. Why don't you make yourself useful and bring in our bags?"

Axel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Don't get your man-ovaries in a bunch. Be right back." He opened the door and went back out to the garage, missing the glare Roxas shot at his back. He chuckled lightly as hefted the suitcases up and brought them inside. When he reemerged, Kairi was up n Roxas's arms and the man was smiling pleasantly, chatting with a taller woman with blue hair.

"Thank you again, Aqua. I can't tell you how much I appreciated you coming here and doing this for me."

"Oh, it was no trouble. Kairi is an angel...for the most part," she laughed back, earning a chuckle from Roxas. Axel frowned when he saw that the blonde was blushing slightly. While that might have just been a reaction Roxas had while laughing, Axel's eyes narrowed all the same. _He_ wanted to be the only one making the man blush cutely like that.

"What're you saying, baby?" Slinking back into the player mindset, Axel came up behind Roxas and wrapped his arms around his waist, startling the blonde and almost making him lose his grip on Kairi. Roxas blushed darker, but he was still smiling. He began wiggling a little in the taller man's grasp, chuckling nervously.

"A-Axel, what the heck? Come on, not now. L-Let go."

They both heard a chuckle from Aqua, and while the smaller man looked up with embarrassment, the redhead looked up with thinly veiled hostility.

"Now I see why this was such a big weekend for you, Roxas. Good for you! It's about time you found someone!" she said, smiling knowingly and even raising her eyebrows once or twice.

Roxas blushed darker still. "I-It wasn't just him this weekend! There were a bunch of people there!"

"Yeah, but he only came for_ me_," Axel said, very suggestively, still loud enough to hear but directed mostly in Roxas's ear.

Aqua laughed at the blunt hinting in his tone, and Roxas's voice grew more desperate. "Axel..."

"It's fine, it's fine. Roxas is an old friend of mine, nothing more." Aqua said, giving no indication that she'd taken offense to his vulgarity. Looking between the three of them, Kairi included, her eyes suddenly went a little wider. "It's amazing how good the three of you look together. You could be Kairi's second father."

Axel blinked, his defensiveness wearing off a little. Did they really look that good together? Aside from the fact that they were a gay couple and that Roxas's gene and man-womb still freaked him out just a little, he'd never thought about it much. He tried not to think about what other people might think of him or his boyfriend, but he liked being with Roxas. He knew now that even if something happened between them at some point, he probably wouldn't be able to leave the blonde completely. He'd want to find some way and stick around somehow.

Roxas and Kairi were too important for that.

The blonde and blunette chatted for a few minutes more, though now Roxas was distinctly redder with Axel's arms around him. Kairi sat quietly enough in his arms, snuggling in, but she looked up at Axel where he stood behind Roxas curiously, liked he looked different somehow. Axel had no idea what she could be thinking; he didn't look different at all. But he paid most of his attention to the conversation, which was quickly wrapping up.

"I'll keep in touch. Let me know if you need my help again sometime, and I'll come by for no extra charge."

"Thank you, Aqua." The blonde smiled warmly, fighting his way out of Axel's grip and opening the door into the garage for her. "You're a life saver."

"Anytime. I'll tell Ven you said hi."

"Thanks."

Once the door was closed and Kairi had been put down and told to go get her shoes on, Roxas turned to Axel with a raised eyebrow and a small bemused smile.

"Jealous much?"

The redhead frowned. "I wasn't jealous. I was just making sure she knew you were taken is all."

"You totally were!" Roxas laughed back, his blush returning. "Did you have to embarrass me like that in front of her?"

"Sorry! I didn't know she was an old friend of yours!"

The blonde smacked his own forehead, shaking it slightly as he laughed. "She more like a family friend. She hangs out with my cousin a lot. But don't worry, she's happy in a relationship right now. Plus, I chose you, remember?"

Now it was Axel's turn to blush. He still wasn't too happy with the situation, but that last little confirmation helped.

"Well, it's a good thing you chose me. Otherwise these stunning good looks might have gone to waste."

"We all know what a shame that would be," Roxas teased, closing the space between them and giving Axel a kiss on the cheek.

"Daddy, where's So-So?"

The two men turned to see a curious Kairi looking up at them. She had donned a little pink sweater and pink pair of shoes, still clutching her doll and looking between them curiously. Axel wanted to ask her about it, but Roxas came over and ruffled her hair, chuckling. He really thought the whole jealousy thing was funny, didn't he?

"Uncle Sora's coming home later, he said. He's bringing home some groceries with Uncle Riku. But right now, Axel's taking us out to dinner, kay?"

Kairi's blue eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Uh-huh."

"Yay! I wanna go to Burger King!" she cried. Roxas winced faintly.

"No, sweetie. He's taking us 'out' out. Like, somewhere a little nicer than that."

She looked back up at Roxas, confused. "Hard Rock?"

The blonde sighed. "Fine. Hard Rock Cafe it is." He looked to Axel. "That okay with you?"

Axel smiled, lifting Kairi into his arms and kissing her, motioning the blonde out the door.

"Sure."

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"You're getting better. Try again."

"I don't know, Axel. I feel silly."

"Don't worry, just try it. No body's here to laugh at you but me."

"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better."

"Go on. Just do it."

"Fine." Roxas took a deep breath and just shouted as loud as he could. The mostly empty playground rumbled and echoed with his voice, shaken by its sudden volume, but nothing stirred. Kairi looked up from her place on the slide nearby, laughing at her dads sitting on the swing yelling like a couple of three years olds. After a relatively nice dinner out, the three of them had come to the playground, even as the sun was going down, and simply enjoyed the evening together.

Axel smiled at the smaller man, impressed.

"You truly have a good set of lungs, kid."

Roxas looked over at him, as he kicked his legs and swung higher. "What was that supposed to do, anyway?"

"Stress-relief," the redhead said simply, beating the blonde to the top easily and still seeming to swing higher. "Nothing like a good battle cry to get frustration out."

"But I'm not frustrated."

Axel smiled knowingly.

"Now you know you can, when you _are _stressed. Don't you see? It's awesome!"

The blonde laughed. "You're weird, you know that?"

"It's not weird, it's just awesomeness."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"..."

The two swung back and forth in silence for a few minutes, until Roxas started dragging his feet in the gravel. He sat at the bottom again, completely still, watching Axel swing past the top, almost over it, several times.

"So when did you need to release stress like this? Last, I mean."

"Oh, various reasons," the redhead said, nonchalantly, looking down at his boyfriend as he began rocking the swing set a little. "Sometimes life throws stuff at you that just makes you want to scream. So do it, I say. Let it all out. Sometimes the whole thing with my parents just made me want to scream. Saix definitely did. A bunch of stuff, really."

Roxas looked down at his shoes for a moment. He murmured something quietly that Axel couldn't hear too well, so the redhead began to slow down. He dragged his feet on the gravel and came to an abrupt stop, then reached a hand over and placed it on Roxas's shoulder.

"Sorry, what'd you say, kid?"

The blonde frowned at him. "I'm n-not a kid."

Axel blinked. "Hey, are you crying?"

Roxas quickly shook his head and turned away.

Axel waited a moment, then hopped off his swing and stood. He moved in front of Roxas's swing and held it still before moving in and holding the smaller man in a hug. He felt Roxas's arms wrap around his neck and something wet seeping into his shirt, but other than a sniffle here and there, he didn't hear any crying. He gave the blonde a few minutes to compose himself, saying nothing but comforting words and holding him, wondering what was wrong. When Roxas finally began to sit back, the redhead cupped his face and brushed a few stray tears away.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The man paused for a moment, then shook his head firmly.

Axel sighed. "You know, screaming helps, but it's not the only way to let it all out. Talking might help. I won't tell anyone."

Roxas looked down, sniffling again. Even in the growing darkness, Axel could see his eyes going a bit puffy and red.

"I-It's not too good."

He smiled reassuringly. "It'll help, I promise." It might help them as a couple too, he reasoned. He knew Roxas had been keeping something inside, something he found painful.

The blonde nodded, a bit shaky. Axel took his hand and squeezed it, smiling encouragingly.

"My...My mom took me away from Sora when I was very young. The court ruled that I had to stay with her until I was at least eighteen. I don't remember Dad all that much, but I remember Sora..."

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_"Mom, don't do this! Please, Dad, don't let her do this!"_

_"SORA!" The blonde was kicking and screaming as his mother pulled him to the car, fighting a near painful grip on his arms. Cloud was holding Sora's shoulders, keeping him from giving chase, but the brunet was thrashing just as hard. "SORA, DADDY, PLEASE!"_

_The blonde man looked faintly upset. "Tifa, do you have to be so hard on the boy? Let them say good bye one more time, would you?"_

_The woman scoffed. "They've had plenty of time to get used to the idea. Don't tell me what to do with my son, Cloud."_

_"NO! I DON'T WANT TO GO!"_

_"ROXAS!" Tears were streaming down the other boy's face. "MOM, PLEASE DON'T TAKE HIM AWAY!"_

_"You don't even want him. Why did you have to make such a fuss about it?"_

_Tifa rolled her eyes. "How else was I supposed to get anything from the settlement? The judge only agreed to give me money because it's going to child support." She yanked open the old car door and practically threw the little boy inside, locking him in place in the car seat. One of Roxas's flailing fists caught her cheek and she swore, standing quickly and shoving the car door shut with a loud slam. "Fucking brat!"_

_"How about if I just give you some cash? I can pay it, just leave Roxas here, please?"_

_"Hah! You think I'm stupid?" She sneered at the man she'd once called her husband. "I get paid monthly thanks to him! I'm not giving that up so you can get off the hook with just one."_

_"I can pay more..."_

_"No, Cloud. What's done is done. Just be happy you got to keep one of them."_

_"MOM!"_

_She glared at Sora. "Oh shut up, Sora. I'll bring him back to visit."_

_"Y-You promise?"_

_"Sure. Whatever."_

_With that, she threw her bags in the back seat and stomped around to the driver's side, ignoring the just barely audible screams from inside the car._

_"Wait!" Sora pulled free of his father's hold and shouted desperately to the car. "Where's Neo? He won't want to leave Neo behind!" _

_The boy ran inside and grabbed the forgotten doll from the couch, a black bug-looking thing with big round, yellow eyes. When Roxas saw him run outside with it, his little eyes widened, and he began to kick and scream and cry louder. _

_Tifa threw open her door again and shouted, "ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! JESUS CHRIST!"_

_She yanked the doll away from Sora and practically threw it at Roxas once she was back in the car. "WHY THE FUCK'D I PICK THE LOUD ONE? GOD!"_

_The little blonde clutched the doll close to him and rocked it, still sobbing. He looked back out and saw Sora and Cloud still standing in the driveway, watching him go sadly. He pressed his little hands to the glass of the window and looked at them longingly, tears staining his face and neck as the car pulled away..._

_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _

_"M-Mommy!"_

_"Shut up in there!" Tifa snapped, banging her fist on the closet door. "I'm going out, so you'd better behave in there!"_

_"But M-Mommy-"_

_"But M-Mommy," she mocked back. "Stop crying like a little baby and just go to sleep already." _

_"Are you sure the kid will be alright, Tifa? I don't wanna get in trouble for this."_

_"Oh please, he'll be fine," she sneered, tossing the keys back in her purse. "I left him some crackers. He won't starve."_

_The strange man paused. "Any juice or water or anything?"_

_"Are you kidding me? I'm not risking him peeing on my carpet! I just bought the damn place!"_

_"You could just call a babysitter, instead of risking abandonment charges."_

_The woman laughed harshly. "And spend extra money on that little brat? Fuck no! Besides, he won't say anything. I'll tear up that ratty old toy of his if he so much as speaks to anyone about it."_

_With more assurances that he would be fine, Tifa left with her date. _

_Roxas, still young and terrified of the dark, sat alone in the closet. He was too little to reach the light switch above, so he just sat, hugging the little doll to his knees like a lifeline, praying his mother would be home soon._

_He couldn't take this. He missed Sora and his dad. His mom didn't let him call them nearly enough, and even then, he was too afraid to say much. The least he could say honestly when the people in suits came by once in a while was that his mom didn't hit him. Which she didn't. She never hit him, nor left any mark on him. But she didn't take him out to the park or the movies or the zoo, like his dad and Sora used to. She didn't ever hug him or hold him or kiss him when he was hurt like they did. She didn't even call him by his name anymore._

_When had she become so cold?_

_The little boy hugged his knees tighter and cried all night. When he slept, the floor was cold and uncomfortable. His mom didn't come back until three that morning..._

_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _

Roxas had begun to cry again, and Axel felt the tears forming in his eyes as well.

"W-When I went to s-school, it felt like i-it took f-forever to make friends. H-Hayner and Pence and Olette were n-nice to me, but I didn't start s-seeing them more often until m-middle school. M-My mom was never around m-most of the time, but when she was, it was bad. She always y-yelled at me, and some of her boyfriends h-hurt me." The blonde squeezed him tighter.

"Shhhhhhh, Roxas. It's okay." Axel pulled him off the swing and held him in a big, warm hug. "It's better now, right?"

Roxas sniffled loudly, nodding into his shirt. "S-She's gone now. I didn't cry at all when she d-died. They said things...t-that I was a bad child for not c-crying!"

"No, Roxas. No," the redhead soothed, petting the blonde's hair softly and cooing, rocking him gently. "They didn't know what you've been through. You had every right to be mad at her."

Another loud sob. "E-Even after she was g-gone, I-I couldn't tell anyone! I was still scared, and it wouldn't have m-mattered now!"

Axel pulled back slightly and looked at his tear-stained face, brushing his cheek with a soft hand. "Did you tell Sora?"

"N-Not all of it. H-He would have w-worried about me..."

"He worries about you all the time, Rox. It's what real families do." Axel leaned in and kissed the blonde firmly on the lips, drawing a surprised whine out of him. As his lips pressed harder, the redhead put all his thoughts and worries aside for a moment and just kissed him, lovingly.

He wanted to wash away everything that had ever been done to him, to love and hold him honestly and never let him go. And Roxas squeezed him tighter still, opening his glazed, watery eyes and giving him a look so desperate for love, that Axel found himself crying openly too. When he pulled away, finally, Axel spoke as firmly as he could.

"I never want you to feel that way again. I can't right what she wronged, Roxas, but I will promise you. I will do everything I can to keep you happy and smiling, as long as I can."

The blonde sobbed again, a pained smile working its way over his face. His nose, eyes, and cheeks were pink, his eyes were crusty and full of water, and still Axel never wanted to leave his beautiful boyfriend.

"T-Thank you..."

They cried for a while, together, before Roxas wore out. The man fell asleep almost immediately in his arms, and with some adjusting, Axel managed to secure him on his back. The blonde nuzzled his cheek against his shoulder, exhausted, and the older man couldn't help but smile.

This day was getting to be too much.

Kairi skipped over soon after, looking up at the two of them with wide eyes.

"What's wrong with Daddy?"

Axel gave her a tired smile, petting her head and turning to lead her out of the park.

"Daddy's just tired, sweetie. Do you mind if I carry him home this time?"

Kairi nodded quietly, adjusting her little black doll so that it was riding on her back like Roxas. As they walked home, Axel chuckled.

"Cute. So I never did ask. What do you call that thing anyway?"

The little redhead smiled up at him. "He's Neoshadow."

"Neoshadow? Huh...weird name."

"Yup. But I just call him Neo. Daddy gave him to me."

Axel blinked, looking down at the old toy. It must have been the same doll Roxas had as a boy; the seams coming loose and other marks of wear and tear all signs that said it had been well loved. It was still being loved now, if the fine coating of dirt was any indication.

He smiled.

"Let's get you two home."


	18. Chapter 18

The next five weeks felt like the best years of his life. Axel returned to work at the union and seemed to be well-adept at climbing the corporate ladder. There was no promotion as of yet, but he attended as many social gatherings and parties at the office as he could, getting to know coworkers and superiors alike. It wasn't long before almost everyone knew his name, and from what he could tell, most of them liked him well enough. At worst, they were indifferent to him, but it was a good start. Eventually he hoped to rise through the ranks. One of his superiors had a very nice job, and he happened to witness her gloating her raise over a few of her subordinates. Judging by her high and mighty attitude, he guessed she wouldn't be there long. Axel caught the CEO giving her disapproving looks every now and again.

Who knew? Maybe he'd rise up there someday soon.

In the meantime, he spent a lot of time outside of work with Roxas. They would watch movies with Kairi (her particular favorites involving disney princesses, and a certain musical by the same company which shall not be named). They would take her out to the park or the mall after school; almost anywhere she wanted to go, Axel would take her. He felt internally guilty, knowing he was probably spoiling her rotten, but he didn't hesitate to crack down on her when she got too bratty. Hopefully that made up for it.

If anything, Roxas seemed aghast that he would spend so much money on the both of them, but the redhead wasn't taking any lip about it. He had one bank account for emergencies and bills and another for buying whatever the heck he wanted. He reasoned with his boyfriend that if he didn't use it to spend on Kairi, he'd just be spending it on some useless crap online. Tons of such purchases littered his room at home; it was a compulsive thing, really, something he'd been doing since his father had started giving him a meager allowance. Lucky for him, the blonde seemed to understand his reasoning and relaxed a little. He would still protest every now and again, as a matter of habit, but they were weak and very easily put to rest by one of Axel's disarmingly debonair smiles.

Roxas consented to Axel buying him things...once in a while.

And when one of them could spot for Aqua to come babysit, Axel would take Roxas out to dinner or a movie. He tried to do this at least once a week; Roxas refused to do it any more than that because he felt he was neglecting his daughter. The two finally settled on once a week, and when that time came around, the redhead would take his boyfriend wherever he wanted to go. It was a definite adjustment for Roxas, he could see; but it was a pleasant one. The blonde was eager to explore the world beyond his humble home, and Axel was more than happy to take him there.

And, once the man had gotten over his shyness a little more, Roxas became more insistent and eager. He was slowly becoming more confident and comfortable with himself and his life. Now that he had someone he loved and trusted, who listened and cared and offered good advice, he could talk about things that troubled him. Axel suggested a psychologist to help him with his childhood issues, the really deep stuff, but Roxas decided against it. He smiled so happily when he said, "You're the only one I need to talk to." There was the matter of cost as well, but Axel decided not to push it. The young man was making great progress, and Axel enjoyed taking him out more and more because of it.

"So what did you think of the movie?" Axel asked one night, as they hopped the train to go home from the theatre.

Roxas looked earnestly thoughtful for a minute, making a face Axel never failed to find adorable. Even given the fact that a couple years had taken some of the boyishness out of his face, there was still something young and juvenile about his more complicated expressions. The face he was making currently gave Axel the impression that his feelings were mixed.

Sure enough, "I liked it, but I didn't think it made that much sense."

The older man snorted. "Are you kidding me? That was awesome! Especially now that they took Elizabeth and Will out! Those two were just taking up empty space in the last couple movies!"

"But that's the thing!" Roxas urged. "This whole series was like this! It's just moving the plot along so people can see more Jack Sparrow!"

"Because Jack Sparrow is sex on legs!"

"One guy with dreadlocks and an accent doesn't make a hit movie!"

They argued back and forth as the doors closed, and people kept having to tell them to keep their voices down. Neither wanted to back down from their side, and nobody could make the other see their point.

"The first movie was good! They should have ended it there!"

"Oh come on! Was it really that bad?"

"I'm not saying it was!" the blonde said, exasperated, pressing a hand to his forehead. He took a deep breath, and, for the sake of the other passengers, spoke more softly. "It was fun, yeah. But there was a bunch of stuff that didn't make sense."

"So? Movies don't have to make sense all the time. It's the escapism that matters," Axel countered. "I think a little more action is good. Besides, the first movie was basically an overdone love story. Jack Sparrow made it a whole lot better. So did Barbosa, for that matter."

Roxas sighed in defeat. "I guess...But I mean, that one ended perfectly. They could have just stopped there, or even just let Jack Sparrow go on without involving Elizabeth and Will in the next ones."

"That's what I'm saying!" the redhead replied. "That's what this movie had going for it!"

"At least for Elizabeth, it seemed like every movie kept trying to think of ways to get her from point a to b, and they kept trying harder and harder. Will, I can understand a bit, but how'd believable is it that she became pirate king?" Roxas asked, with a touch of snark. "How do pirates even HAVE a king anyway? That seems to contradict the idea of a pirate, AND what they were trying to get away from through piracy in the first place."

Axel chuckled a little, leaning against the pole he was holding on to, as the train pulled to a stop. Ruffling the younger man's hair, he chided, "You put a lot of thought into some of these things. It's just a movie, you know. Make believe. What's the harm in suspending disbelief a little? And why do you need to think so hard about it?"

Roxas huffed a little, but he gave a small smile as his boyfriend continually played with his hair.

"I don't have to. I just like to...sometimes..." He raised his eyes to meet Axel's, slowly. "But you know, there ARE somethings out there that can make a movie unwatchable, even to the least analytical people."

Axel snorted again. "I guess you're right. I thought Epic Movie was complete crap after I saw it the first time."

Roxas shot him a skeptical look. "I thought you were all psyched to see it when it came out?"

"Was not. Who the hell told you that?"

The blonde shrugged. "Demyx." His smile turned a little wicked then. "I dunno though. It seems like the kind thing that's be right up your alley."

"Oh, I'll give you something right up your alley..."

"Axel!" That came out as a mix between a hiss and a mortified cry. The younger man quickly did a sweep of the area around them, looking to see if anyone would let on that they'd heard that. After a minute, he turned back to his boyfriend, glare almost icy despite his burning cheeks. "Don't say that kind of crap here!" he hissed.

Axel stopped his eyes mid-roll. "What's got you so worried?" Now it was his turn to smile wickedly, smirking down at the blushing man suggestively. "Besides, you're the one taking it out of context."

"There was no context to begin with, you jerk! YOU went off topic! Stop trying to run your creepy thoughts off on me!"

"Aw, that hurts, Roxy." Leaning in a little closer, lest someone around actually manage to hear them, he whispered, "I thought you liked it."

Axel had still been nice enough to take things slow with Roxas. His first time hadn't been scarring per say, like Axel's had, but he still seemed hesitant to jump back into bed. They had only begun to experiment a little more recently, but still, any such implications of going further had the younger man blushing redder than a tomato. Especially if Axel was messing with him, saying it in that quiet, husky tone...

The blonde jerked away from him and stammered. "I don't- I sort of...Ugh! Why do I even bother trying to talk to you?" Some people really were starting to look at them funny now, and Roxas responded by flushing redder. He dropped his head and turned away, pouting and muttering quietly so Axel couldn't hear.

The older man gave a softer smile now, though his boyfriend couldn't see it. He closed the small gap between them and put his hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Hey, come on, Rox. You know I'm just kidding."

Roxas nudged the hand off and stepped closer to the window, still refusing to look at him. Axel could see his reflection in the window though, as outside the train the tunnel was pitch black, save for a few scattered lights. Eyes were looking off to the left, his head still bowed low to try and hide his rosy cheeks. Axel heard the younger man mumble something and stepped closer, asking, "Hmmm?"

No answer at first. He sighed. "Come on, Rox. You gotta speak up if you want to get something across. We've talked about this remember."

The train car shook a little, rattling the bars and poles around them. "You're an asshole."

Axel shook his head, smiling. "Is that all?"

Roxas whipped back around and looked like he wanted to say something back, but the car jolted violently, and his hand had slipped from the pole so that he could point it at Axel. Roxas yelped as he stumbled to the side, but Axel caught his hand and tugged the smaller man back into the safe hold of his arms, narrowly avoiding the awkwardness of the blonde crashing into the old man not far behind them. Roxas blinked dumbly for a second, and Axel took the opportunity to lightly kiss his forehead. He didn't care if anyone else was watching. Not at all.

"Try to be more careful, okay?"

The blonde nodded, but didn't look at him. The light faded out for a moment, but Axel knew he saw that adorable blush still on his boyfriend's face. And in that minute, he could get that feeling again; the one that all those hallmark cards try to say in so few words. It was hard to describe the feeling of having someone to hold ; someone you could talk to and fight with, and it didn't really mean anything. Standing there on that mildly crowded train, with his arms wrapped around Roxas, even if the man had regained his grip on the pole, it was just the feeling of being like that. Axel half-wished it could go on longer, but of course, the train had to stop, and they had to get off sometime. These days, he was beginning to feel that feeling more and more, over just the smallest, simplest things. And he recalled that dream he had had, not so long ago. It was nice that he and Roxas were still young and handsome now, with practically their whole lives ahead of them still, but even if there came a day when they both turned old and grey, at least for now, Axel felt he wouldn't really mind. There was something in his life now, a purpose that seemed to fill part of what he'd been missing before. Responsibility was not all fun and games, but the man was determined to enjoy as much of it as he could.

By the time they stepped off at their particular stop, Roxas was smiling all over again...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"So...have you told you're dad yet?"

The question caught him off guard when it came, if only because it came out of nowhere at all. He and Roxas were sitting on the couch with Kairi and Sora, the latter two of whom seem deeply engaged in the game show that was on T.V. Oblivious to the pensive blonde or even the sleepy redhead, the two were shouting out answers and giggling to each other as a few contestants bumbled on the words.

Axel turned his head and blinked at his boyfriend. The expression he found, to his relief, was not hinging towards any particular emotion. It just looked curious.

Still, he answered cautiously. "I'm...trying to find the right words, I guess."

It wasn't something he looked forward to, not because he thought his father would beat him or kick him out necessarily. The man was a pretty down-to-earth, chill kind of guy, for the most part. Really, Axel didn't even talk to him all that much anymore, unless it was regarding questions about rent or other bills they got in the mail. His father spent most of his time at work, and the other part of the time sleeping on the couch. It had been like that for as long as he could remember.

Roxas nodded and looked back to where Kairi was bouncing in front of the t.v. Some commercial jingle had come on, and Sora was doing a comical impression of it, much to their daughter's delight.

"I'm not trying to push you. I just thought it might be...weird, you know? What if someday we..."

Axel could finish that sentence in his head. If they ever decided to move in together, or hell, if they married, how would he break the news? Maybe if he was just moving in, he could just go ahead and do it and never tell his dad a thing. But that seemed like cheating. Even if they hardly ever talked, shouldn't his dad know that much?

In terms of the future, Axel had no idea what was going to happen. And as he explained to his boyfriend, he didn't want to make any big promises too soon, no matter how obligated he felt then. They'd just be for the wrong reasons. And Roxas understood that. But as of now, he did plan to find a place of his own soon, and since Riku and Sora would be getting married in a few months, Roxas wouldn't want to be hanging around them. He'd feel like a burden no matter what they said. If Axel didn't find a place by then, would Roxas and Kairi move in with him?

Later that night, Axel made his way home, still wondering about what he was going to say. His dad knew he could swing both ways, so that wouldn't be a shocker. His preferences were never really all that private to Axel, one of his school's luckiest guys. But to come out and say he had a daughter...with another guy. That sounded weird to him, but then, maybe his dad already knew about the gene. Maybe he'd actually paid attention in school...

With these thoughts in mind, he made for the living room. Sure enough, there sat a redhead sprawled out on the couch, cigarette in one hand as it dangled off the edge of the arm. The man had straight hair, unlike his, with smoother strands that slicked down from his head to his neck. A discarded pair of goggles sat on the table beside him...

"Meeehhhhhh..." Reno groaned at the t.v. and shifted slightly; a sure sign that he noticed Axel's presence.

The younger redhead swallowed slightly, as quietly as he could. "Hey, Dad..."

Reno cracked his eyes open and threw his unoccupied hand over them, shielding them from the blinding blue hue coming off the lightly buzzing screen.

"Haven't heard from you in a while, kid." He chuckled, taking a long drag.

"You know you shouldn't smoke in the house."

"Yeah, yeah, Heard that one before." Then came the obligatory, "What are you, my mom?"

Axel sighed, scratching the back of his head lightly. "You know I'm not..." A pause seemed necessary after that, so he waited for a moment. Reno raised an eyebrow at him, impatient but curious. "Listen..."

"If it's about the damn phone bill again, I told you, I'm not covering it. Sort that mother out on your own."

"It's not that." A deep breath. "There's something I haven't told you."

Reno rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. You knocked up some chick?"

Green eyes snapped up from the cushions, wide. It took all his mental capacity to keep from stuttering. "Well, uh, actually...yeah. Something along those lines."

A heavy sigh. He'd had a few talks with Axel before about the dangers of unprotected sex, a long time ago. The younger man knew he had no excuse. But instead of the rant he'd been expecting, his dad asked, quite calmly, "How far along is she?"

"Um...yeah, here's the thing. I knocked up a guy."

Then came a heavy silence. Reno just stared at him, neither seething mad nor particularly excited. Just...blank, really. He seemed to be trying to read something in Axel's face, but Axel couldn't imagine what it was. Maybe a "got'cha!" follow-up face, or something else to indicate he was kidding. He had no idea. But for that next couple of minutes, Axel felt like something heavy had been dropped into his stomach. It left him feeling a little cold and dreading, just a little. If you've ever had a calm, easy-going parent, it was the feeling you'd get as a kid, seeing them mad for the first time. More ambiguous in this case, but it was plenty scary in its own right...

Finally, Reno nodded. "That's where you've been going after work."

"Yep." Feeling compelled to say more, he added. "I...I got him pregnant a couple years ago. I have a daughter, Dad."

Reno stood and turned on the lamp, before clicking off the t.v. Axel half-expected his dad to smack him over the head, like he always used to, but instead, he was pulled into a crushing hug. The man was so skinny, you would think he didn't have this much strength in him!

"Damn!" he heard the man groan again. "My kid's finally growing up! I thought you'd never get a family started, you dumbass player!"

When Axel managed to pull away, he stared at the older redhead in almost blatant disbelief. "You're...you're not mad?"

Reno chuckled, punching his arm. "No point in yelling at you now. What's done is done, you know? I just can't believe I have a grandkid!" The man punched him again, ignoring Axel's whine. "You dog! When were you planning on telling me?"

"I, uh...well, I didn't know until a little while ago." That, and he was beginning to worry his dad would cut his balls off if he found out. He figured it was obvious, but Reno waved it off.

"If I knew this was going on, I'd have taken some more time off work! I want to meet this kid!" Axel grimaced a little at that. The man was probably wondering who had standards low enough to settle for him. Which was mean, but at the time he'd really been sleeping around, was pretty fair. He hadn't resented it then because he didn't care. Now, well...he wanted to defend himself, but more, he didn't want his dad insulting or upsetting Roxas.

"If you promise to be nice, I can bring him and Kairi over sometime soon."

Reno grinned. "I'll be good. Just be sure it's sometime I'm actually home, got it?"

Axel agreed, feeling a little better about it all the time. His dad didn't seem too phased at all by the fact that his grand-daughter was born of two guys. He was even pretty excited. And Axel was happy that he didn't have to hide it anymore. If he was comfortable, Roxas was more comfortable. This idea would only help them out.

Hopefully.


	19. Chapter 19

Axel had to chuckle. The second he had brought them through the door, Reno had swooped in like a hawk, and now he was circling around Roxas and Kairi, eyeing them with intense curiosity. Roxas stood completely still, almost stiff, as he watched this strange man focusing so intently on him and his daughter. Axel could see his "motherly" instincts kicking in, as the blonde's expression slowly morphed into one of serious consideration. He was, no doubt, weighing his chances of escape with Kairi in his arms. The door was still open behind him, ready and waiting to allow him to bolt...

Reno took a step closer, and Roxas took a mirrored step back, no longer looking as afraid as he had a moment ago. He was just extremely tense, and Axel couldn't blame him.

The younger redhead cleared his throat.

"Right, so Dad, this is Roxas and Kairi." He gestured to both with his hand. "Guys, this is my dad."

Nobody really moved for a minute or so, and finally Axel sighed, closing the distance and firmly grabbing his father's arm. "Dad, you're scaring them. Knock it off."

"What?" Reno whined, shooting him a funny look. "I was just checking him out!"

"That's the point, Dad. It's creepy. Knock it off." So far, they weren't making a very good first impression.

"Hey, I'm just trying to get to know the guy who loved my son enough to have his kid." Both Axel and Roxas blushed heavily, while Kairi looked between them all, bewildered. Reno barked a laugh.

"Sorry, kid. Just used to bein' all up in people's faces. Name's Reno. Pleasure to meet ya." He reached out a hand, which the blonde hesitantly took. Reno shook hands so hard that he almost jerked Roxas over in the process, but somehow, the blonde managed to keep a hold on that hand, and return it at least a quarter as firmly. This seemed good enough for Reno, who turned quickly on his heel.

"Just close the door and come on in." He headed towards the living room. "Pizza okay with you guys?"

"Dad! You were supposed to make something tonight!" Axel groaned, slapping his forehead in frustration. Roxas chuckled and leaned against him.

"It's no big deal, Axel. I don't care."

The man looked down, meeting a sweet, honest gaze, and smiled. Wrapping his arm around the blonde, he pulled him into a half-hug and kissed his cheek, before leading him into the living room. It wasn't as messy as usually, thank god, but it was still pretty heinous in Axel's opinion. At least things weren't going too bad...

"Hey, Roxas! What beer do you drink?" Came the holler from the kitchen. Axel winced. He'd spoken too soon, hadn't he?...

The blonde blinked, then shook his head. "Nothing. That's okay...Actually, could I just get a glass of water? I brought some boxed juice for Kairi, if you don't have much."

"No problem! Does she like apple juice? Axel picked up some this morning!"

The younger redhead sighed at that. At least he'd remembered that the juice was for something, and hadn't chugged it all. Or worse, tried to mix it with something alcoholic...Wait...he didn't, right?

"That's okay, Dad! She can just have some of ours!" he called back, reaching into the big bag Roxas had brought with them and pulling out one of the boxes. Kairi accepted it with a smile, though Axel couldn't help but frown that she still wouldn't call him 'Dad.'

"What kind of pizza do you guys want?" Reno asked, as he casually strolled back in and took a seat in the chair just beside the couch.

"Pepperoni!" Kairi pipped up excitedly, as Reno took out his cellphone. He laughed.

"Sounds good to me, kiddo, but can we go extra cheese on it?"

"Sure!" she said, looking to both her parents who just gaped at her in amusement. "That's okay?"

Axel grinned and tousled her har lightly. "Fine by me. Rox?"

The blonde shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Can we go half with black olives then?"

Reno scrunched up his face. "Gross. How bout this: we get two pizzas. Who else besides this twerp can eat olives?"

Roxas pouted slightly at that, while Axel shot his father a glare. It said something along the lines of, "Behave, or I'll drive you over to the pizza place and shove your balls in the meat grinder."

"I can!" Kairi pipped up again. The blonde huffed playfully before letting his expression grow into a wide smile.

"Thanks, sweetie."

So the pizzas were called in, and after that, Reno suggested putting on a movie while they waited. But much to Roxas's displeasure, all the things Reno suggested were way too inappropriate for Kairi, so they settled on video games. Roxas assured the man they could watch something after dinner, once Kairi was asleep. So with that, the redhead brightened considerably, and he hooked up the old super smash bros. and set about schooling his granddaughter in the rules of the game. For a round or two, Axel and Roxas sat out, just watching them from the couch. Axel kicked his dad every time he sounded ready to swear, and other than that, they watched proudly as their little girl soon got her bearings and began fighting just as well, if not a bit better than Reno.

"Oh no you didn't! Get back here!"

Axel sighed, smiling to himself. How embarrassing was it that his dad was getting beat by a little girl.

Roxas laughed. "Go baby, go! Win daddy a new pair of shoes!"

His boyfriend shot him a funny look. "Way to go, Rox. Video games and gambling, all in one night. You're such a great parent."

Roxas snorted and punched his shoulder. "Shut up."

"Language, kid, language. There are children present."

That result in a few more bruises on his arm, but Axel didn't care. With an arm around his boyfriend's shoulder, he sat there enjoying the evening for a long time. By the time the pizza got there, most of them didn't even remember what they'd ordered.

"Ack! This is the crap pizza! Take it away!" Reno mock-yelled, passing the cardboard box over to Axel as he set his renewed hungry gaze on the other. "Food!"

"Try not to eat like a starving dog, okay Dad?" Axel popped open the box he'd been given and took a bite out of one of the smaller pieces. It wasn't half bad.

"Hey! Share!" Before he knew what was happening, Axel felt something slam into him, knocking the wind right out. He almost toppled over too. Looking down, he saw that Kairi had jumped him and was now hugging his torso, shaking him lightly. "Share! Share!"

"Alright!" Thus the pizza was broken out and everyone sat on the couch with plates and cups, flipping through a few cartoons on the t.v. while Reno grumbled in the background.

"Oh, be quiet," Axel rolled his eyes and waved him off carelessly. "We'll watch your stuff later. That's stuff's better for watching with Zell anyway. I won't have Kairi's innocent mind destroyed by filth such as yours."

"Hey, I showed this to you when you were 5. Didn't seem to do that much damage to you."

"That explains a lot," Roxas chuckled, ignoring the look Axel shot him in retaliation.

Kairi was oblivious to their bickering. All she cared about was that the looney toons had come on, and the only thing that could break her devoted focus on them was the pizza.

"Ah, I remember these! Classics, man!" Reno nodded in approval and slouched even further into the couch. "You watch these when you were little, Roxy?"

"It's Roxas," the blonde replied flatly, causing Axel to snort. "And yeah, sometimes I got to watch them." When his mom wasn't being a total asshole, he tactfully left out. Axel slid an arm around him and patted his shoulder, and Roxas turned to him and smiled gratefully.

"You two make a cute couple."

Both men's faces burned again, as Reno smirked at them knowingly. "Well, I'm glad Axel finally decided to slow down some. And with a real cutie too."

"Dad!"

The older redhead waved his hands defensively. "I'm just sayin'! But really, you seem good for each other. If he had to screw up with somebody, I'm glad it was you."

Now, to Reno, this was as good of a compliment as he could be expected to give. Axel felt himself pale a little when he said it, though, feeling Roxas stiffen against him. Before he could even say anything, the blonde had stood up and was moving quickly to Kairi, pulling her up into his arms and away from the t.v., despite her struggles.

"We're leaving. Thanks for the pizza." He was almost down to the front door before Axel caught his arm.

"Wait."

"No."

"Roxas, I said wait. Please," he begged softly, squeezing a little. The blonde looked up at him finally, tears a fury burning in his eyes, but not escaping just yet. "You're still too sensitive about this stuff."

"You think I'm not justified?" the younger man demanded softly. They could both hear Reno starting to get up and call for them not far off. "I'm a mistake?" he hissed, his voice cracking a little on the last word.

Axel shook his head. "No, Rox, you're not. But you have to understand that it might be viewed that way." They couldn't pretend they had gotten together and had sex for love or anything like that. Even if Roxas had wanted it at the time, that wasn't the truth. "I don't think of you as a mistake, Rox. You're one of the best things that's ever happened to me. But have you ever wished that you could go back and do something differently?"

The blonde paused as he opened his mouth. He ignored it when Reno came to the doorway, asking if everything was alright with them. After a moment or so, Roxas replied softly. "Everyday. I used to feel that way everyday of my life. But now I can't."

Axel nodded. "It's no good to dwell on what's passed. I love you, Roxas, and I love Kairi. The only way I would ever wish things to be different is that I would wish you both to be happier, better taken care of."

Roxas slowly began to smile again, as a tear ran down his cheek. Kairi looked up curiously from his arms, and extended a tiny hand to brush it away.

"Daddy...do you and Axel...not like me?"

Roxas shook his head and kissed her forehead softly, squishing her a bit when Axel pulled them both in for a hug. "No, baby. You're our life; we could never hate you."

"That's right, kid," Axel said softly. He held them both close and soothed Roxas as he cried for the umpteenth time since they'd found each other again. It felt like a never-ending spiral, loving and hurting them, but he refused to let either of them be sad. Finally, he turned back to his father, who was scratching his head and looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"Didn't mean anything bad by it..." the man mumbled softly. He raised his eyes to find Roxas's slightly puffy, red ones, peaking out from the group hug. "Sorry, Roxas, Kairi. I wasn't thinking too much about it, I guess..."

The blonde nodded slowly. After that, they went back inside and let things return to normal. It was slow, and awkward in coming, but very surely, things were going back to normal.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

By the end of the evening, things had cooled down considerably. Kairi had fallen asleep to an old disney movie they had lying around. Axel knew his dad wasn't happy about it, but he'd put up with it because he did feel bad and want to show he was sorry. If he had to give his old man credit for anything, it was that he was pretty good about being humble and owning up to his shortcomings. Reno could be a short-witted asshole sometimes, but this was one of those times were he hadn't intended to upset anyone.

Roxas was certainly forgiving enough. The kid had a lot of room for pain in his heart, but Axel also knew that he definitely had plenty of room to love. He just hoped he could work on replacing most of that pain with love and happiness, and show the blonde exactly how he was making HIM feel all the time. Just so warm and content...

"G'night, kid." Reno ruffled Kairi's hair softly before passing her over to Roxas. He took her n his arms gratefully, and gave Reno a soft smile.

"Thanks. Tonight was nice." And he meant it. They'd had such a good time that that one moment of awkwardness could be easily overlooked. But Roxas could be expected to dwell on it for longer than Axel could. He was surprised his boyfriend was still being so polite.

"No problem." Reno scratched his head and leaned further back into the door frame. "Come by again sometime. You're welcome to come by and hang with Axel overnight, if you wanna." At that, he smirked and wiggled his eyebrows, chuckling as the blonde turned bright red.

"T-Thanks." And they were quickly out of there, starting the trek back to Sora and Riku's place. As they walked, Axel privately hoped they were decent once they got home. He didn't need another viewing of the lovers naked making waffles in the kitchen again. He shuddered.

Roxas looked up, noticing his shudder, and smiled. "Oh, it wasn't THAT bad..."

Axel chuckled to himself. "Define: that bad."

"I like your dad, honest. He's just a little...um..."

"Weird? Tactless?" the redhead offered with a hopeless smile. Roxas nodded, only half meeting his eyes. "Don't feel bad if you're mad at him at all. He deserves it."

"I guess so. It's just...do other people see us as a 'mistake?'" the blonde asked hesitantly.

Axel shook his head, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It doesn't really matter. I don't know any of our friends who'd admit to thinking it was, and even if they did, who cares? I think what matters is that we're happy and that it all turned out fine."

Roxas smiled slowly and snaked a hand into his, giving it an affirming squeeze. Axel squeezed back and stopped him for a moment, leaning down to kiss the tip of his nose.

"We really gotta stop ending up like this." It was repetitive and emotionally draining for both of them, he knew.

The blonde gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Just keep trying." As they started down the sidewalk again, Roxas whispered, "Okay. I will."


	20. Chapter 20

The wedding was getting closer and closer, and Sora and Riku had their hands full making sure everything would go off with minimal hitching.

"Do we have the courses all set up?" The brunet asked, glancing down at his checklist again. Riku nodded, not looking up from his laptop.

"Check."

"Great. What about the band?"

His fiance started typing up a storm over at the kitchen table. "We booked them two weeks ago, remember? Kingdom Hearts? You're the one who spoke to them on the phone."

Sora frowned, turning away from the stove and cocking a hand on his hip.

"You don't have to be so short, you know."

The silverette glanced up at him, eyes narrowed. "Well, you're the one who insists on going over the checklist five times every day. I remember telling you the same details every other hour."

"It's our _wedding, _for pete's sake!" Sora whined, exasperation seeping into his tone. He waved the wooden spoon in his other hand at Riku. "I wish you would at least_ act _like you're interested in this! This is going to be a big moment for both of us!"

Riku rubbed his forehead and growled softly, but if he had anything else to say about it, he kept quiet. An awkward moment passed between them before the older man pushed back his chair, strode over to his tired fiance, and pulled him into his arms.

Sora made a small hiss, more to himself than to Riku, as he wrapped his arms around him and squeezed. "Sorry...I just-"

"Don't be. You're right. I should be more involved in this." The man had been so busy with work lately. The fact that his wedding was coming up soon meant nothing to his egotistical, middle-aged boss. Riku was no stranger to stress, working under the man as long as he had, but his oppressive workloads and bordering homophobic behavior were making the silverette seriously consider switching to another field. Or at least another office. With no perceived growth or advancement on the horizon, combined with the rising expenses of this planned ceremony, Riku had begun looking at other options on top of his already considerable workload. Still, he knew that Sora knew, and being forced to do much of the planning and arranging on his own was stressing his fiance out as well.

"I understand," Sora huffed slightly. He didn't want to admit that it was a burden to him, planning most of the wedding. But he longed to do it with his future husband, and share the fun of it, as well as the stress. It was, after all, a once in a lifetime thing. "I'm tired, you're tired."

Riku rested his head atop Sora's and sighed. "You got that right."

"Sorry."

"Stop saying that already, you idiot." The silverette looked down at him with a wry smile. "Here, how bout this? I do the planning, and _you _finish the accounting files."

"No way! That's boring," Sora whined, trying to squirm out of his arms. The effect was ruined by the big grin spreading over his face.

Riku grinned. His fiance was such a kid sometimes. "No, no! You said it yourself! I should do more of the wedding planning! My stuff doesn't do itself, you know." He threw the brunet over his shoulder and brought him over to the table.

"Put me down! I don't wanna!"

"It's a compromise, babe! We've got to start somewhere!"

Both were laughing even as Riku started to stumble. A little maneuvering at the last minute ensured that he wouldn't crush Sora under him or slam the man into the tile floor face-first, but the engaged couple groaned in sync as one shoulder made contact here, and another's back there. Riku ended up on the bottom with Sora sprawled across his chest and midsection. A minute passed in agonized silence as the two came back to themselves and began squirming just the slightest bit in discomfort. Blue eyes raised to meet another, slightly greener pair, and the silence was immediately broken again.

"Nice move, jackass! The hell were you trying to do?"

"Mess with you," Riku replied with a smirk, reaching up a sore arm and ruffling his lover's hair. "You're such a kid, Sor."

A thin pout. "Am not!"

"You are too. Definitely related to Roxas."

"Leave my little brother out of this!"

Sora attacked his sides with nimble fingers, startling a laugh out of the already winded man. A bit more squirming and struggling, and Riku managed to flip him over and pin him on the floor, one hand securing his wrists while the other sought to repay the favor.

"H-Hey! N-No fair!"

"Totally fair! This is why you don't mess with someone bigger than you!"

"Uncle Riku! Stop picking on So-So!"

The silvertte had barely a second to look up before he was tackled, smashing him completely on top of Sora, who choked a half yelp, half laugh. Kairi then settled on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, her little black plush doll pressed against his neck and ear. "You big meanie! Let him go!"

"Never!" Riku chuckled and sat back on his knees, pulling Sora up with him still pressed to his chest. Sora shoved his chest but couldn't push him away.

"Kairi, help me! Uncle Riku's being mean to me!"

The whole scene morphed into a comical threeway wrestling match, which despite being outnumber two to one, or one and and a half to one, Riku would argue on account of height and weight, the silverette still emerged victorious. After ten minutes he managed to escape from Kairi's hold, and now he sat back against one of the cupboards, watching, amused, as Sora and Kairi lay on the floor, panting heavily, the young redhead lying across his fiance's arm.

"He's too much for us, Kairi! We'll never beat him!" Sora cried, dramatically flinging his free arm over his eyes in anguish.

Kairi hugged her doll to her chest and let out a small sob. "We tried, So-So! We really tried!"

"That's right!" Riku laughed evilly. "And you better remember it! No one defeats me!"

They laid there on the floor for a long time, looking up at the ceiling quietly. Sora thought about all that had happened in the past few weeks, and all the stress they had been building up between the planning and their jobs. Now it felt like the tension was all melting away. He smiled.

Riku watched him and Kairi, chuckling slightly as she curled up and slowly fell asleep on his arm. Sora pulled her to his chest and ran his fingers through her hair, looking pensive, as if he were counting the specks on the ceiling. The silverette drew up his knee slightly, resting his elbow on it, then resting his chin on his palm, still watching them.

He had no doubts whatsoever about marrying him. Sora was the light of his life. It made his day to see the brunet smile, and it made his nights just curling up next to him as he slept. Even though they had been friends for a long time before this relationship, they had transitioned into it with only minimum awkwardness, and Riku was happy to find it was eve more fulfilling and enjoyable dating Sora than it had been just being his best friend. The brunet was a lot like his brother in some ways, but he was strong and confident about himself, which Riku had always found very attractive. His warm, friendly nature and confidence were arguably his best qualities.

Sora finally looked up and noticed Riku looking at him funny. He smirked slightly. "What?"

"Just you," the man replied lazily, shifting so he could lay down on the ground as well.

"What about me?"

"Just thinking about you."

Sora raised his eyebrow, but dropped the conversation with a small shrug. He glanced out the window at the dark sky, then to the kitchen clock on the nearby wall. "Roxas has been out at the store for a long time now."

Riku tilted his head to look at the clock as well. "Worried about him?"

"Nah." Sora waved a hand dismissively in the air. "He's fine. If he needs something, he can call us. Just thought it was weird is all..."

"Well, you did ask him for a pretty specific kind of cheese. Maybe he couldn't find it at just one store?"

"Usually he'd just tell me I'm out of luck and come home. Maybe he went to check another store?" It seemed unlikely, but it was still possible.

Riku shrugged. "Whatever. Guess that means we put Kairi to bed."

"From the look of it, she's already done half the work for us," Sora chuckled, patting her head gently. "No bedtime story tonight."

Riku sat up slowly, taking his time getting to his feet. Once he did, he offered a hand to his fiance, asking, "You want to go tuck her in while I go over the list one more time?"

Sora rolled his eyes at the teasing tone. "I hear ya." He hoisted Kairi up against his shoulder with one arm, and wrapped the other around Riku's neck, pulling him down for a quick kiss. "Smart alec..."

Riku grinned against his lips. As they parted, and he turned to leave, the brunet yelped when a hand slapped his butt lightly. He glared over his shoulder at the man, who smirked as he took his seat at the kitchen table again.

"Go on, little woman," he snarked, and even through his pout, Sora couldn't help but smile.

For now, of course. He'd get him back later, somehow...

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Axel took another sip of his beer, watching with minimum interest as the bartender moved back and forth, passing around drinks. She was an older looking brunet, about mid thirties, he guessed. Her eyes and face suggested to him that she was some part chinese. Not drop dead gorgeous, but nice curves and a seductive smile. Any crap from her customers she took with admirable wit, sarcasm rolling off her lips as easy as the cigarette she held between them. Axel enjoyed talking to her once in a while, when he ordered something else, if for no other reason than he was bored out of his mind.

Demyx, even the village moron, had roped him into scoping out gay-friendly bars for Riku and Sora's individual bachelor parties. Once he had passed the idea along to the others, the consensus was that half the group take the silverette one place, and the others go with Sora to another. Demyx seemed to think they both needed one last big hurrah, something to kick off their new lives as a married couple, though to Axel this seemed far from something a married couple would be interested in doing. Why did most guys in this town go to bars like these? To hook up. Surely neither of his friends would approve of the other hooking up with someone else. They had each other now.

He didn't see the appeal. The redhead had had more than enough action in younger years, and to be honest, going out and clubbing was slowly starting to get old for him. The dancing was still fun, but other than that...

Axel just shook his head and mutely followed his clueless friend.

Zexion had joined them later in the evening, and after half the night of scoping out the town, they'd come across a relatively nice little place called Gaikoku Hātsu. It was Japanese themed, with a standard bar in the back. Unusual, but a nice change. People could rent private rooms with the sliding paper doors, to eat or socialize, or hang out at the bar, where the music was good, but not ear-splitting loud. Demyx insisted that it was a stripper bar, but Axel had the feeling he was either way too optimistic about that or else he'd been misled.

"Come on, Axel! Live it up a little!"

Speaking of which...

"You told me we would stop in for a quick look, Dem. Not get shit faced," he murmured with a sigh. Already his words were falling on deaf ears.

Demyx was beside him at the bar, practically falling off his barstool. He was leaning heavily on the counter and making eyes at Zexion, who he must have conned into a few drinks at some point. Axel hardly knew. It seemed like they'd been here for hours. Maybe the blonde had begun sneaking him drinks at every bar they'd stopped to scope out so far. The result was an obnoxious giggle fest, full of drunken slurring and wet, sloppy kisses.

Axel suppressed a shiver and turned away as his friends descended on each other again.

"I'm gonna head to the bathroom," he announced, nodding as he got up. Demyx waved lazily at him just as he vanished into the crowd. There was some sort of party going on there tonight; not huge or out of control yet, but the place definitely had some people there. Maybe four groups total were dancing.

In no particular hurry to get back, Axel casually entered the men's room and distracted himself by running his hands under the hot water. From the upkeep and decor, the place seemed pretty classy, but just because there wasn't a rave going on outside didn't mean crazy stuff wasn't happening. Just as he started dabbing some of the water in his hair to smooth it down, the door burst open, revealing a snorting, giggling blonde girl and a tall, dark haired boy, who was immediately pulling her closer as they stumbled in.

Huh. Guess this wasn't just for gays after all.

"Uh..." Axel fell silent as the girl dragged her boyfriend into a nearby stall and slammed the door. Suddenly, he wanted to be scarce here too.

With a sigh, he wiped his hands on his t-shirt and elbowed his way out the door, uncaring as it banged his shoulder up a bit. His mood was far sunny, and he had half a mind to find his friend again, kindly tell him he'd be pissing off, and leave. After a hard day at work that day, working through his lunch break, having to attend the most boring meeting in the history of the world, a loud, noisy bar trip was the last thing he needed.

What he needed was some-

"Let's dance, okay? You promisssssssseeeddd!"

Axel's head snapped up and to the right, startled by the familiar sounding voice. It must be his mind playing tricks on him.

Just as he was about to continue on his way, a flash of gold caught his eye, glowing pale in the overhead light. The redhead followed it, only to see two men standing against the wall, the smaller man tugging at the other's arm, while somehow still grinding and moving drunkenly with the beat of the music. Axel's eyes bugged at the sight of gelled blonde hair and deep blue eyes.

It was...Roxas?

* * *

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the slow updates. I've been easily distracted with going back to school. Even now, I'm distracted by the yelling, screaming, drunken revelry outside my lovely new apartment :\ But like I said, I'm not giving up on any of the stories just yet. Updates won't come every night, or maybe even every week, but now and then, I'll let you know I'm not dead. :)

But yeah, stuffs happening in ze story :)


	21. Chapter 21

"Roxas?"

It seemed that he'd been heard, even over the roar of the music that had so conveniently begun to flood the room. Axel saw the blonde's head turn toward him, though their eyes did not meet. The other man's gaze was hazy, weighed down by alcohol and...lust...

Pissed, Axel stormed over and grabbed him by the arm. The gesture earned him a wince, though the redhead was far from caring by this point.

"Roxas, what the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be looking after Kairi!"

Blue eyes blinked at him, trying to clear themselves, but the blonde's body reacted faster, attempting to squirm out of his hold.

"Huh? Whooza heckr yu?"

"Hey," came the brunet standing off to the side, clearly addressing the smaller of the two of them. "This guy botherin you, cutie?"

Roxas hiccuped, blinked, and then began to giggle.

"Nah, is cool. He's pretty hot, huh Terra? Maybe he should come vith us tonight, huh?"

Axel was fuming by now, even as Terra turned to the side and sized him up with an utterly shameless stare.

"Maybe...He doesn't sound too happy though, Blondie. Maybe we shos just leave im out."

"Awwwwww! But Terraaaa- Ow! Hey!" Axel had heard more than enough. He slammed the blonde's back against the wall of the club, just as the bass boomed from the speakers. Many of the surrounding dancers gave a wild cheer.

"Roxas, what the FUCK do you think you're doing?" The redhead had no idea whether to be angry or concerned. In all their time together, the blonde had never done something like this. He'd been a bit quieter lately, more than usual...did this have something to do with it?

"Hey, man! Lay off!" Roxas tried to shove him back but Axel refused to be jostled. He didn't let go. "Hey, stop it! Lemmme go!"

"Hey, dude, what the heck's ur problem? The kid says he doesn't like it."

Axel snorted, unimpressed even as the muscular brunet tried to step between them.

"This is between me and him," he hissed, shooting the man an icy glare. "Go get your booty calls somewhere else."

"Asshole!"

The drunken brunet lunged for him, knocking him away from the wall. Roxas slid down to the ground and dumbly watched them struggle for a minute, before he decided to do something.

"Help! Somebony call securite!"

Axel, meanwhile, tried to maneuver the taller man into a headlock. It was not an easy task though; the man was larger and well built, and his thrashing resembled a rodeo bull catching its rider by the horns. Axel could barely keep him on the ground, and that was only by pressing his whole body weight down on him.

Then Terra threw a punch.

The shot was aimed behind the man's head, straight at Axel, and it hit its target square in the face. Axel fell back, hands clutching at his throbbing, undoubtably bleeding nose. But just as he was starting to register the warm trickle and the dizzy tilt of his head, Terra was on his knees, punching him again. Soon, he shifted to his feet, and began really kicking the crap out of Axel.

The music began to slow as everyone took notice of the tussle. A couple of women screamed as foot met with face, stomach, arms, already leaving bloody or purple marks all over the man.

"You want some more, punk? Huh? Want some more?"

When he wasn't covering his head desperately, or his eyes weren't squeezed shut in pain, Axel looked up to see Roxas just standing there, caught between the haze of alcohol and this growing look of fear. His eyes were beginning to widen, lips parting in a silent cry of horror, as his casual flirt beat the ever-loving crap out of his boyfriend. And Axel wondered to himself: why?

He didn't look horrified for Axel. He seemed...horrified OF Axel...

"Look at me, damn it!"

The wailing wore on, until finally someone got the bouncers involved. Axel coughed and curled in on himself as they pulled Terra away, yelling at the two of them to break it up.

Axel's rage seethed. Break it up? He wasn't even fighting anymore, God damn it! He was taking the full brunt!

With one last effort, just as the brunet had begun to explain to the guys what had happened, Axel was pushing to his feet, raising his fist for one more blow...

It never made contact.

Axel gasped in pain as his wrist was tightly clenched in the fist of a tall, dark skinned man with...sunglasses? At night?

"That's enough, Red."

Another bouncer, a young woman, stepped up to him and smacked him lightly. "Yeah. We don't need you messing up our fine establishment here. Beating up our good customers." To her partner, she quipped, "Let's throw him out, Rude."

"Right." And Axel was dragged out of the place, past his gaping boyfriend, past the self-righteous asshole who'd won the fight.

And still, his friends were nowhere to be found.

The drag of shame was quick, and led to him being shoved out a door. Axel landed with a grunt, bruised face planted in the hard dirt. The girl in the doorway laughed.

"And don't you go trying to get back in! I've got my guys looking for you at both doors!" With that, the two turned away. The door slammed, and seconds later, the music was pumping back up to full volume again.

With a harsh groan, Axel lifted himself off the ground slowly, got unsteadily to his feet, and shot the club one final look. It flowed with so much emotion; shock, betrayal, shame, anger. But his look quickly turned cold and blank, and with a pained shrug, he slowly began to limp away. He never looked back once after that.

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He'd been wandering for a while now. 2 hours to be exact. But Axel still didn't stop. He didn't feel like going home, but at the same time, he didn't really have anywhere else to go but there. There was just no place he _wanted _to go right now.

Another buzz in his pocket. It was probably Demyx, texting him for the tenth time since he'd been kicked out of the bar.

"Goddamn it..." He knew he should answer, but he just couldn't right now. Didn't want to, didn't have to.

About three blocks later, and the buzzing was becoming a migraine. Begrudgingly, the redhead swore and thrust his hand into his pants pocket, harshly tearing the phone from it.

"God, what is it?" he snapped.

The voice who had just been trying to speak quieted. A few seconds later, it tried again hesitantly. "Axel?"

"This better be damn important, Sora. My night's gone to total shit, and your goddamn brother is an asshole."

"What?...Oh, so you've seen him?"

The redhead blinked. "Yeah, why?"

"Oh thank God! He hasn't been picking up all night! He left a little while ago; he should have been home by now!"

Axel rubbed his temples, breathing a heavy sigh.

"Where is he? Can you put him on the phone?...No, better yet, tell him to get his ass straight home now!"

"Sora, just...fuck off right now, okay?" At the brief silence on the other end, he sighed again. "I'm not his fucking babysitter, okay? He's a grown man. He can make his own decisions."

"But Axel-"

With a snap, the phone slid shut, ending the call. Finally, after hours of turmoil and fighting and wondering, Axel replaced the phone in his pocket, resigned. Finally he turned, and walked all the way home.


	22. Chapter 22

Axel woke up in his bed, head throbbing, jaw aching, and miserable. At first he thought it was weird, because he hadn't been drinking last night, but the memories came rushing back soon enough, and he groaned, shoving the pillow off the bed. He buried his face in the mattress and wondered.

_'What the fuck do I do now?'_

After some time, he decided. First, there had to be coffee. With a swift kick, he sent the blanket into the air and back, swinging his legs over the side of the bed with practiced ease. His legs then promptly carried him down the stairs and to the kitchen, where he snagged the coffee pot and went about his morning. Sometimes it helped to do everyday, normal things. It made the day seem more normal, if only a little.

_'Oatmeal, or pancakes?' _He crossed the room to the freezer and yanked it open. There was no question; he needed pancakes this morning. The syrup and coffee combined would have him awake in no time.

Reno came downstairs just in time to see cakes flying everywhere, his son flipping them up with stiff but jerky movements.

"Rough night?" He knew the signs well enough. Axel, of course, was in no mood to talk, so he settled for a curt nod and a particularly violent flip.

"You aiming for the ceiling or something? Cuz that's what's gonna happen if you flip em much higher."

"When I need some tips on mess making, I'll phone you, kay? Fuck off, Dad, just for once."

The older redhead shrugged, pulling a box of coco puffs from the pantry and milk from the fridge. After that, the two ate in silence. And even later, an even pissier Axel was on a ladder, scrubbing dried pancake mix off the tile above the stove, as Reno sniggered from the corner.

Today wasn't going to be a good one...

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"Seriously? You're saying he what?"

Axel growled into the phone. "Look, I know what I saw, okay? Roxas was there, hanging off this big brawny guy!" He could practically feel the other man wincing over the phone.

"Okay, okay, I get it. But why? Why would he do something like that?"

"You're asking me?" The redhead laughed bitterly. "That's what I'd fucking like to know. Here I go out of my way to love this kid and support our goddamn daughter, and he's out flirting with some douche at a sleazy bar! He's acting like a whore!"

There was a hiss from the other line. "Chill out, man! I'm at the library, okay? People in here can hear you from a five mile radius!"

"Alright, fine. I..." He paused. "Demyx, what are you doing at the library?"

"It's Zexion's favorite hangout. He says he comes here to think and clear his head. Hey, maybe you should try it!"

"Not a chance, bud, but thanks for the thought." Axel bitterly thought he could use a clear head right then. But it just felt so shitty, like he'd been backstabbed by this guy he'd genuinely begun to love. And for Axel to love someone legit, that was a big deal...

"Have you talked to him since? Maybe it was a one time thing. You said he was drunk..."

"I can't face him, Dem. I'm afraid of what I'll do if I see him. This morning I wanted the smack him...I should have done that last night..."

The blonde sighed. "Go to Sora's. Go talk to him. It'll solve the problem quicker than just sitting here moping about it."

Axel scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. I know you're right. I just feel so angry...Hey, what if he, you know, screwed that guy last night? What if-"

"Axel, just fucking talk to him, okay?"

"Alright, alright. See ya." He hung up quickly, practically smashing the button before jamming the device into his coat pocket. This was like some cosmic reversal of how he ended up in a mess with Roxas. Except this time, _he _was feeling worn out and left to dry. It felt like being punched repeatedly in the chest, but with a throbbing on the inside too. In his heart.

Feeling said heart heaving, the redhead payed for his smokes, walked out the door and down the street purposefully. And all the while he kept up the mantra.

_'Roxas...what did you do?'_

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To his surprise, Roxas answered the door. Head lowered, shame-faced, and with a background track of Sora bickering in the kitchen.

"Hey, Axel." With a soft, half-hearted chuckle, he muttered, "How'd you sleep?"

For a moment, there were no words. Axel gaped at him; gaped because it was the only thing he could think of to do. In the meantime, his eyes swept over the smaller man. His clothes were a bit messy, and his eyes were sunken in and tired. Roxas must have noticed the stare because he shrugged a bit.

"I didn't get back til late last night. God, it was horrible."

Before he could think of anything to express the growing emotion inside him, Axel heard Sora's voice getting louder, until he saw the brunet materializing behind Roxas.

"And what the hell were you thinking, not answering your phone like that? I thought you were lying dead in a gutter somewhere! Riku was about to call the police!...Oh, hey Axel." From the cool stare, the man guessed Sora was still a bit peeved from their previous conversation. But Axel was nowhere near caring.

"Hey? HEY? WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU GET OFF WITH HEY?"

Roxas jumped a little bit, looking up at him with wide eyes. Sora pushed his brother aside a bit, eyes starring directly into the redhead's.

"You got something to say, Axel? Here's one. Fuck off. There, you like that? Next time someone important to YOU goes missing, see if I care!"

"He wasn't missing, you twit!"

"Well then you could have told me that! What was so hard, Axel?"

"Stop, stop, stop." Roxas stepped between them, looking clearly too tired for all this. Patiently, he looked from one man to the other. "What is all this about? It was just one night, you guys. Can't everybody let it go?"

At those words, Axel snarled. His full venom turned on Roxas, glaring the man down like a bull seeing red.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST DO THAT, ROXAS? WE'RE TOGETHER NOW, YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

Once again, Roxas looked startled, appalled by his boyfriend's behavior.

"Axel, Kairi is right inside! Stop swearing, or so help me, you're gonna have to leave!" The redhead looked ready to retaliate, and Sora was certainly far from finished, but Roxas smaller man cut them both off, eyes narrowing. "When the hell did you start getting so clingy anyway? You've never cared when I went out before. So I got back in late. What's the deal?"

"THE DEAL," Axel growled, gripping Roxas's arm tightly enough to make him wince, "THE DEAL IS I TRUSTED YOU, AND THEN I SEE YOU ALL OVER ANOTHER GUY!" How dare he act like it was nothing, like it shouldn't have meant anything to Axel. Because it DID. Oh hell yes, it did...

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Sora shrieked, just as Roxas's eyes began to widen, almost as if recognizing.

"YOUR BROTHER'S A SLUT, THAT'S WHAT!"

Roxas looked at him, aghast, hurt, angry. The third was taking over quickly, and with tears in his eyes, Roxas stepped forward and shoved him. Shoved him hard off the doorstep.

Axel staggered back a bit, then straightened and glared right back.

"How dare you..." the blonde practically whispered, before his voice raised. "How DARE you accuse me of that! You think I what? I CHEATED on you? Axel, did you really just hear yourself right now?"

"I DID! LOUD AND CLEAR, BABY!" The taller man threw his arms wide, proclaiming it practically to the whole neighborhood as he shouted. "I FUCKING SAW YOU, ROXAS! YOU THINK YOU CAN HIDE THAT, HUH? YOU THINK YOU CAN LIE TO ME!"

"I NEVER DID! HOW COULD YOU EVEN THINK THAT? I'VE BEEN NOTHING BUT FAITHFUL TO YOU, EVEN AFTER ALL THE SHIT YOU PUT ME THROUGH!"

"THAT'S ALL IN THE PAST, ROXY! GROW UP! SERIOUSLY, DO US ALL A FAVOR!"

Sora had long gone silent, watching in horror and awe as the two stood there, yelling for the whole world to hear.

"Guys, maybe we should take this inside," he said nervously, watching as one neighbor opened her window, frowning down at them. A man walking his dog along the street in the late morning sun had paused, glancing up at them curiously, as his terrier barked and snapped and tugged at its little leash. "Seriously, we should-"

"SHUT UP, SORA!" The brunet squeaked slightly, cowering from the dueling remarks. He muttered something quickly about feeding Kairi, and promptly made his exit, the look of confusion and hurt still on his face.

Roxas was seething now. The man who had once cowered and cried at the smallest of criticisms was now standing firm and tall, glaring down at his boyfriend as though he could set him on fire with his gaze, if he really wanted to. Axel wouldn't have put it past him at that moment.

"Fine, Axel. You don't trust me? You think I can't grow up? Then leave. Get the fuck out of here," he growled, pointing down the street. "I don't want to see you stupid ass face again."

"OH YEAH? WELL FINE WITH ME, ROXY!" As he turned and went back the way he'd come, he snarled over his shoulder, "I guess I made a shitty choice, loving you."

If Roxas felt it, his face didn't show. He didn't tremble or whimper or cry. He only glared coldly, and pointed again.

Axel turned his back on him and walked. And walked. And walked. Then ran. He ran once he was long out of sight, and didn't stop. Not for the nice old lady selling flowers. Not for the homeless guy and cat sleeping on a bench together. No, nothing was going to stop him, nor the tears threatening to stream down his cheeks. Somehow, he sucked them in, and just kept running...

Roxas went inside, slammed the door, and threw himself on the nearest comfortable surface, burying his face in sweet, sweet upholstery. He cried softly, not stopping for Sora's confused questions. Not for Kairi's curious pokes. Not for anything.

It was like something had been ripped in half.


	23. Chapter 23

For the next few weeks, Axel was a robot. He got up in the morning, went to work, then came home. All completely on autopilot. It was as though his brain was a giant cloud of cotton candy, fuzzy and distant and completely incapable of thinking of anything. So he went through all the motions mechanically, desperately trying to keep himself distracted. But it never worked long.

If nothing else, Axel missed his daughter. He missed having a family to care for, even though it took up a lot of his time and money. Buying Kairi little presents here and there had actually been fun. And of course he loved to buy things for _him..._

It bummed Axel to think there'd be no more romantic dinners. No more nights at the movies, nor peaceful, quiets walks around the city. No more trips to the park in particular. Axel could go to the restaurants and movies and walks, but he could never dream of going back to the park, unless it was late at night or something. If he went there, he might see _him, _and the redhead had no intention of doing that. He wanted _him_ to really think about what _he'd _done.

But once the second week had passed, then the third, then the fourth, and still no word from him, Axel began to wonder if his eyes really had betrayed him. Was it possible? The man at the bar that night _looked_ like Roxas. He hadn't responded to that name at all, though, and that was what struck Axel as the most odd. That and the look of complete confusion and fear...

On nights when he felt extra confident, Axel returned to the bar and looked for him, wondering if he was someone else. The owner was wise to him and didn't let him back in, said on account of all the commotion he had caused last time. Axel asked from the door if the blonde from before had been there since, and after some pestering and misgivings, the woman told him that neither of the two had been back since, and that she blamed him for her lost customers.

So that was the end of that trail.

Axel went back to work, still mulling over the ideas in his head. It wasn't as though he could do anything else with them. He refused to go to Sora's house to have the thing sorted out; he highly doubted it would go over neatly. The whole family over there was now taking it as a personal attack.

Riku hadn't called him since. Axel had no idea how he was taking it, besides probably pissed that the redhead had snapped at his fiance. Sora had called him at least three times, leaving short but not so sweet messages his Dad kept picking up on the answering machine. Axel had been surprised to hear that he had called the house phone, and poor Reno had no clue what to do with the shouted obscenities. Axel didn't bring it up to him, and after some time, he seemed to just nod quietly and respect that.

In so many words, Axel supposed he had been uninvited to the wedding.

Demyx still talked to him, although he claimed to have sworn that he wouldn't talk about Sora or Roxas. Nor did he ever give his feelings on the matter, although he did suggest frequently that the redhead call them or go see them or something. Axel declined, but his resolved to stay mad and justified got weaker and weaker as time went on...

He gave Axel a few updates now and then on Kairi; really, the redhead wondered why he even bothered. It wasn't like he was going to see her again. The thought depressed him, actually, and he had briefly thought about the court option again, but had ultimately shot it down. It wasn't fair, though. He never asked for the details, but then, he never admit that they made him smile, even just a little bit.

Demyx and Zexion would go out for drinks after work, and always invited him along. But the man had lost his thirst for alcohol, as much as he felt he could have used it. On the positive side of things, Axel decided to stay away from drinking heavily or drinking when depressed. He remembered his old school habits and how he had managed to knock up a guy somehow, and the feelings were strong enough that he even resisted the beers in his fridge. Instead, he signed up for membership at a local gym, hoping that might help alleviate his frustration. If nothing else, it would get him back in shape, so he went every other day.

Roxas was still silent as the grave. Nothing from him had come at all, not even shouted insults or crying, the latter having been his forte for so long. He was probably just ignoring the redhead, which was fine by him. For the first weeks or so.

As weeks continued to go by, even with all he was doing to stay busy, Axel missed him. Holding the smaller man, or kissing him, seemed like things he had done in a distant dream once. He remembered them, but they felt so far away. So the man stayed bummed.

Everyday, he looked at his cell phone, waiting for a call or text that would never come. Fingers punching away at the buttons, writing and rewriting, even when he had meetings he should have been focusing on. Trying to find the perfect thing to send. Should he apologize, or just ask to talk? Was it right for him to want an apology? Had Roxas done anything at all?

Finger tips met the button, but never pressed it. The "send" key left devoid of mark or indent or any kind. Never jammed or pressed in, just left alone.

And he never knew if Roxas felt the same...

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It was a weekend. Axel was at home, having gone to the gym a bit earlier, now lying on the couch in his boxers watching t.v. Nothing good was on, so he flipped around the channels. The room was still dark because the blinds were drawn down the previous night, and Axel had made no move to open them. Too lazy, he rationed. So he curled up in the "bat cave" as he dubbed it, and tried to think of nothing but Wipeout.

"The hell are you up so early for?"

Axel looked to the doorway, hearing the groan in Reno's voice and sighing. He wasn't usually awake until maybe 7 p.m. most weekends.

"Is the t.v. too loud, Dad? You have to get up anyway. You've got work."

"I don't feel like goin in today," the man whined, walking quickly in front of the t.v. to the armchair on the other side. He sank into it with a happy sigh. "Though I might spend the day with my lazy ass son."

"Hey, I work. This is my down time, old man. If you want to earn yours, you better get out there and do your damn job."

A snort. "Don't you lecture me. I've been working since before you were born, kid. At my age, I should be able to do whatever the hell I want."

Axel shrugged, not willing to press it. Reno would most likely go at some point. If he didn't, he'd get the call from Elena, and she'd chew him out good. Reno worked a couple of jobs, one on week days and one on the weekends, and since he only went to it two days out of the week, his boss would take no excuses for missing. Unless he was on the floor dying, which didn't seem likely right now...

"Gonna called that boy toy of yours one of these days?"

Axel rolled his eyes and pressed a hand over them, sighing.

"What happened to the fuck off and leave it alone rule?"

"That's another thing. As your old man, I decided you can't just tell me to fuck off. It's disrespectful."

The younger redhead laughed. "Since when have I ever respected you as a father?"

"True. But damn it, Axel, I'm not having any more kids soz I can do things over right. You're all I got, and you're gonna respect me, or face the wrath of my belt."

Axel rolled his eyes again.

"Sure, Dad. Sure. Well, for your information, I'm not gonna be the one to call first. We can't sort this out without his input."

"Ever think that if you called him, you'd get his input?"

"No. He'd hang up. Or maybe pass the phone over to Sora so he could hang up." That, and scream his ear off full of obscenities again.

There was a brief pause, as both men stopped to watch a woman get owned by a giant, rubber ball. She hit the water with a huge splash, and Axel quickly thumbed down the volume so they wouldn't have to hear the guy's talking over it, as they replayed it over and over again.

"Whatever you think is best, kid. It's your life."

Axel's fist clenched slightly at his side, but he ignored it. Yes, it was his life. His daughter, his ex-boyfriend, his potential happy future he was mucking up here. Not Reno's. Reno's time for that had already come and gone.

But all he said was, "Thanks, Dad."

And that was the end of it. Reno dragged himself up and went to work, and Axel went back to his pointless t.v. violence. All was calm again, at least for the time being.


	24. Chapter 24

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

The man beside him laughed, as he slipped his arms into long, black jacket sleeves. "Not getting cold feet on me, are you?"

"No. I just wanted to make sure you have no reservations about this." He watched as the other man slipped several items into the bag, the last of which was a small, blue lighter.

"Not at all, my friend. That little shit must pay for crossing me."

The first man kept silent, but nodded, as he too changed into darker clothes. He had a sneaking suspicion that his friend had lost it somewhere along the road. But in the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter. He still owed him a favor, and a very big one at that; this job would more than cover it, and he had no doubts about his experience in the area. No one would track this to his friend or him, not with his thorough planning. More likely it would look like an unfortunate accident.

Still...

"If the collateral damage doesn't bother you. There's going to be a lot of it."

"Nope."

A slight sigh. "Alight then. Let's go."

If he was so sure, then why were his hands shaking?

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Axel flipped the t.v. off and stretched on the sofa, too lazy to get up. He had fallen asleep at some point, and the static and noise had only woken him hours later. His bleary eyes glared at the clock, which was reading a solid 3 a.m. Now that he was awake again, even though he felt tired as all hell, Axel was sure he wouldn't fall back asleep for the next hour.

Reaching for the side table, he picked up his phone and watched the screen blankly for a moment. It was a habit he'd picked up somewhere within the last few weeks, and while he didn't understand the hope he felt, he succumbed to it willingly. As if he stared at it long enough, he'd get a text or a call appearing on the screen...

Like the one showing up right then...

"What the hell?" His eyes glued to the little screen, Axel recognized the number as Sora's. Assuming it was the brunet calling to bitch him out some more, Axel groaned, but pressed the button anyway.

"What do you want, Sora?"

"Axel! Oh, thank God! Listen, you have to get over here right now!"

He groaned again. "Sora, it's 3 fucking a.m. Can't it wait til later?"

"NO! Axel, you don't understand! The house! I-It's on fire!"

Green eyes snapped wide. "What?"

"I don't know what happened! The house is burning, Axel! Please get over here now!"

In seconds, the redhead was off the couch, pulling on his socks, and lacing his shoes, all the while keeping his phone neatly pressed between his ear and his shoulder blade. His hands shook as he tried to remain focused.

"I'm on my way. Sora, did everyone get out alright?"

He heard a choked sob from the other line, and some static he assumed was shouting in the background. "R-Riku and I got out through the window, but Roxas and Kairi are..."

"Shit!" Axel ripped a coat from the closet and threw it on. He was out the door and locking it behind him seconds later, still listening to Sora's sobs as he ran up the street.

"Sora, please tell me there are firemen there!"

"Y-Yes, a few of them. They just-" There was a slight pause as the background noise grew louder. Axel could feel himself sweating, dying to know. "Oh! Oh, God! Kairi's out! They got her out!"

"Is she alright?"

"Yeah. She looks fine." Riku. Axel smiled a little, knowing he would get all the details he needed from his old friend. "They pulled her out through one of the downstairs windows."

"What are they saying, Riku?"

"The few that are here said something about an electrical fire, but that's total bull. Our house just got inspected last week; the guy said nothing was wrong with any of our outlets."

Axel tried to keep his panting to a minimum, but he had to run uphill and still stay on the phone. If he hung up now, he would go insane.

"Sora's got Kairi now. She's alright, but Roxas is still inside."

The redhead growled. "What's taking them so long?"

"The fire is huge, Axel. They think it must be blocking him from getting out. The firemen said they're waiting for backup before they go in."

"That will take forever!"

He heard a curse from the other line. "I know. Just get over here. Kairi needs you." And in those words, Axel caught the hidden message. _Roxas _would need him. In all this time, he had been just as miserable as Axel, hadn't he?

Axel reassured Riku that he'd be there soon, and hung up, despite his instincts screaming at him to stay on the phone. But he needed to hang up. He had almost missed a turn because he was so focused on the chaos.

So the man kept running, begging his legs to run faster. He just had to make it in time...

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He could see the smoke in the sky from over a mile away.

Once he'd reached the house, he saw the fire consuming most of the outside. Neighbors and early morning joggers all stood cluttered in the yard, as the few firemen on the scene tried to direct them this way and that. They fought to keep them away from crowding the three people huddled on the ground, all wrapped in blankets and hugging each other.

A window on the second floor exploded in a blast of fire.

"Daddy!"

Axel pushed through the people, finally seeing his daughter and friends watching the house with horror and awe. The little girl was struggling in Sora and Riku's combined grip, sobbing and screaming as pieces of the house collapsed from the roof and sides and clattered to the ground below. They were far enough back that no one worried about the debris hitting them, but it looked to be taking all of the couple's strength and patience to keep their niece from racing back inside.

Axel grabbed one of the firemen as he tried to pass and shouted, "Do something!"

The man looked at him squarely. "We're doing all we can, Sir. The truck will be here in a few minutes with more people."

"There's no time for that! Someone's still in there!"

"It's too dangerous. There's no hose we can use to dowse the house. Once the truck gets here, we can start putting out the fire and get in there."

"That's not good enough!" he snarled.

But the man shoved him off and went back to pushing the crowd.

For a moment, Axel looked around, frantic. Then he noticed that the front door was open, and not yet blocked by fire or falling debris.

In that split second, he made his pulled a rubber band from his pocket and tied his hair back as tightly as possible, tucking the ponytail into the back of his shirt. He threw off the coat and then, without warning, he sprinted towards the house, ignoring everything but the burning challenge before him.

"AXEL, NO!"

"COME BACK, YOU IDIOT!"

He pushed through the front door and immediately pulled his shirt up to cover his face. The fire was everywhere, and the smoke and heat were oppressive. But, to his relief, Axel saw the stairs had not yet collapsed, nor were they completely engulfed in flame.

"Roxas! Are you down here?"

He listened over the crackling fire, but heard nothing. Carefully avoiding the flames, he made his way upstairs, stepping carefully but purposefully.

"Roxas, where are you?"

The upstairs living room was worse than downstairs. A pile of rubble from the slowly collapsing roof had completely buried the t.v., and the carpet was turning black in places. As he moved, Axel caught a glimpse of yellow in the black, and saw that strange doll lying on the floor, just outside the flames.

_'Kairi will want this.' _He grabbed it, thankful that it wasn't terribly hot, and stuffed it under his shirt, hoping it wouldn't fall out.

"Roxas!"

He made his way down the hall to the bedrooms, noticing that Sora and Riku's had been swallowed. The door was open, revealing a burning hell inside that ate away at everything. Picture frames, laundry, bedsheets, and curtains were all beginning to turn black in the fire.

Kairi's room was not much better.

But Axel went for Roxas's door, about to grasp the handle when he saw it giving off a faint glow. The glow of fire all around him was bright and hot as hell, making rivers of sweat trickle down his neck, but he backed away from the clearly searing hot door handle.

"Roxas, I'm coming in! If you're by the door, stand back!"

He rammed the door hard with his shoulder, wincing when his hand accidentally brushed the door handle. He had to be more careful, or he would burn. After a few more tries, the wood finally gave way. It feel backwards with a heavy thud, and a great cloud of black smoke erupted in its wake. Axel coughed, gasping as the smoke burned in his nose and mouth, but pulled the shirt up higher, over the bridge of his nose. He stepped carefully over the door and surveyed the little room.

The ceiling had fallen in here too, and right there on the floor was the man, lying unconscious in front of the rubble. Axel rushed forward, and immediately noticed one of the blonde's legs wedged under the pile.

He fell to the floor and began hastily removing the clutter, wincing and yelping as the splintered wood here and there seared his hands. They were red and raw by the time he was done, but Axel did his best to ignore it. He turned the smaller man over and examined his face. It was covered in soot and bruised here and there, harboring a particularly nasty specimen right on his temple.

"Wake up! Come on, Roxas, wake up!" He slapped the young man's cheek a few times, finally drawing a reaction from him. Blue eyes fluttered slowly.

"Axel..."

"Shhhhh." He pressed a finger to those lips, offering his ex a strained smile. "Don't talk. I'm getting you out of here. But you have to stay awake for me, got it?"

The blonde's eyes were foggy with pain and exhaustion, but he nodded weakly, as Axel helped him sit up. The redhead moved in front of him and slowly lifted the smaller man onto his back, trying to nudge his arms around his neck.

"Hold on," he commanded, getting to his feet and immediately setting off. He was halfway down the hall when he heard a cracking sound. It was different than the fire. He looked up and his eyes widened, seeing the huge crack in the ceiling growing longer, and longer. The sound was getting louder too.

_'Not good.'_

Roxas coughed on his back. "A-Axel, look out!"

His foot slid forward, the sound boomed, and Axel ducked both their heads as he ran through the narrow hallway. The ceiling was collapsing just behind him, tearing into the floor below and causing it too to collapse onto the ground below it. The very edge of the chaos was right at his ankles, but Axel didn't stop. Couldn't stop. He had to get them both out of there safely.

He was not going to lose to some freak act of nature.

They were through, and just reached the stairs when they heard shouts from below.

"Where are you?"

"Make noise wherever you are! We'll come find you!"

"We're up here!" Axel shouted back, breaking off in a cough half way. The fumes were making him feel a bit dizzy...

He shook his head and remembered not to touch the burning banister. He carefully made it down the stairs, almost stumbling at the last step, and fell into the waiting arms of a fireman.

"He's got him!"

"Here, take this!" Having just come through the door, the men hadn't been exposing themselves to the fumes, so the man who had caught them offered Axel his mask. The redhead shook his head, inclining it then to the man on his back.

"Give it to him."

The man did so, and lifted the blonde from his back, into his arms. The one of the other men gripped Axel by the arm and helped him out of the house.

"Watch the roof! It's unstable!"

As he came out, Axel felt a cooling mist. He looked up dizzily, and saw the rest of the firemen now hosing off the higher windows, creating a wonderful shower of cool water to fall over them. He looked to the man who had taken Roxas, who was laying him on the grass by Sora and Riku. Kairi ran to his side and knelt, burying her face in Roxas's chest.

"Daddy's d-dead!" she sobbed.

The fireman looked at her kindly, as he felt the blonde's neck.

"It's okay, sweetie. He's alive." When the little redhead continued to sniffle, he took her hand gently. "Here, feel for yourself." He pressed her little hand to Roxas's pulse. "See?"

She sniffled, smiling slightly up at him.

"Thank God. Roxas!" Sora bent over him, shakily touching his brother's hair.

Another fireman came over. "Stand back! Give the kid some room to breathe!"

Axel stumbled over and sat down beside them, hearing little over the ringing in his ears and sloshing muck that seemed to be clouding his head. He faintly registered Kairi hugging him, shortly pulling her little doll from underneath his shirt and hugging it close as she snuggled into him. He sort of heard Sora thanking him, and Riku asking if he was alright.

He could barely hear the firemen talking just above them.

"Get the stretcher. We need to get this one to the hospital. I don't trust his breathing."

"The redhead should go too. Probably the little girl too. You can't be too careful with these things."

"Right. Vexen can check them out on the ride over...Ah, here they come."

As his mind struggled to clear, Axel felt himself lifted off the ground and walked away from the house. The noise and smoke were still making everything so hazy, and he vaguely knew that he didn't want to leave Roxas's side right now. Not after he struggled so hard to get him out of the fire. As he started to squirm against his hold, someone spoke low in his ear.

"It's alright, Sir. We're just taking you both to the hospital."

_'You both?...Oh.' _He meant Roxas was coming too.

"Axel, Sora and I will be right behind you with Kairi." Riku. He nodded, trusting the two of them to look after his daughter, as he felt himself lifted into the waiting ambulance. He was pushed a little ways, then forced to lie down, straining his neck a bit to watch as they lifted Roxas in on a stretcher. The younger man was wheeled over beside him, and Axel rolled over to glance at his ex. That delicate face looked so peaceful in sleep, even as an I.V. was jammed into his arm and a respirator strapped over his mouth and nose. The doors of the white vehicle slammed shut, and it sped off just as the siren began to blare ominously overhead.


	25. Chapter 25

"How the fuck did this happen?" Sora winced as Axel's fist pounded met the table. The reaction nearly caused his coffee to spill, and in the end, the redhead was cursing, having banged up his already injured hand.

"Axel, please calm down." No one was in the hospital cafeteria with them, but it was three in the morning. The woman on duty behind the counter fixed an irritated look their way, and much to the brunet's dismay, Axel flipped her off. As the woman turned away, offended, Sora sighed. "She's probably going to spit in your food now."

"I don't give a damn. What I want to know is how the fuck this happened, and who I need to kill to fix it." Lowering his elbows to the table, Axel put his head in his hands and groaned. "This is so fucked."

"I know what you mean, but getting all whipped out like this isn't going to help. The doctors are doing what they can."

"I know it's not their fault, but what the hell else am I supposed to do?" The house was gone. A fireman had come by the hospital to report that it had burned to the ground, despite their efforts. The only place they could really count themselves lucky was that no body had died, but Axel's hands were badly burned and Roxas had been taken to the emergency room, and had been there for some time. Everyone was worried that he hadn't regained consciousness by the time the ambulance had pulled in.

"Stay calm for Kairi's sake," Sora said firmly. He looked up as she and Riku entered the room. "Ah. They're back now."

Riku was carrying Kairi against his shoulder, her weird-looking plush doll clutched tightly in her little arms. Riku sighed as he reached the table.

"She broke down crying at the vending machine. I offered to get her some chocolate, but it didn't work." Axel stood up and took his little girl from him, noticing the little wet stains left on Riku's shirt. Looking down at her, he brushed the soft, red strands away from her face and rocked her slowly.

"Thanks for taking care of her while I wasn't there. I appreciate it."

Riku gave a muted smile, and Sora grasped his arm comfortingly. "It was the least we could do."

The group fell into silence then, as Axel's focus turned to Kairi, and Sora left the table to go make some calls. The tension in the air was thick, as the oldest at the table worried for his former boyfriend. Would Roxas be alright, or...would he die? Axel prayed the latter was unlikely, but... what if the smoke had gotten to him, or something like that? Hell, the redhead had no idea!

"Have some faith in him, Axel." The man looked up and blinked. Riku had read his mind. Not that it was that hard. "He'll pull through. He's a tougher kid than you realize."

It was just hard. Roxas had always been so sensitive and fragile in his eyes. Roxas was strong in a way, he supposed, and Axel felt in his heart the blonde would pull through. He hoped.

"The wedding's going to have to be put off for a while now," the silver-haired man continued glumly. Axel appreciated the opportunity to take his mind off of things. "We've got to find a new place, get all new furniture."

"Do you guys have insurance for the fire?"

"Yeah. Luckily, Sora harassed me into it." Riku's lips drew up in the corners, into a small smile. "Guess he was right."

Axel chuckled. "Maybe he's psychic or something." They fell into silence again, as a question worked its way into Axel's mind. "Roxas and Kairi can come live with me, if it's too much trouble."

"I think you should let them decide that," the other man replied, sighing heavily for a moment. "It would be less stressful. Plus I get the feeling Roxas won't want to trouble us anyway. But you guys did have a bit of a fight there."

The redhead looked down. "Why'd you have to remind me? I thought maybe with this tragedy we could get past that."

"You have to work for it, Axel. Forgiveness is best with an honest apology, not trying to pretend like a fight never happened."

Axel looked at him incredulously, and Riku frowned. "You don't still think he cheated on you, do you?"

"Well, how else was I supposed to take that? He was practically humping some other guy in this sleazy club!"

"What were _you _doing at a sleazy club?"

Axel paused. He didn't think of it like that. If Roxas was really innocent, if this was just some big misunderstanding, how would it look to him if he had seen Axel at some sleazy gay bar?

"We were..." Riku raised an eyebrow at him, impatient. "Aw, fuck it. Demyx, Zexion, and I were out looking for some place to hold your stag party."

The silver-haired man blinked at him. "That's what this was all about?"

"Yeah! I was at the bar, and I saw Roxas dancing all up against this tall, brawny, brown-haired guy! I tried to ask him why, but he was drunk off his ass and staring at me like I had two damn heads!"

Just as his friend opened his mouth to speak, Axel jumped as a door swung open loudly and Sora sprinted back into the room.

"Guys, he's awake! Come on!"

The two looked at each other for only a moment, then Axel passed his sleeping daughter to Riku, and followed Sora at a sprint, his frustration and betrayal momentarily forgotten. He was just so relieved, he couldn't think.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The doctor had them wait outside for a moment, checking to make sure Roxas could handle visitors. The woman informed them that he had been taken off the ventilator moments ago, and seemed to be breathing normally. As she stepped in, Riku finally rejoined them. Kairi was still sleeping fitfully in his arms; not tossing much, but looking as though she might be having a nightmare. Axel gently woke her, and instantly she resumed crying.

"I-I dreamed that Daddy was gone! Th-The fire ate him up and he was gone!"

"Shhhhhh. It's alright, Kai." Axel took her from Riku and cuddled her close, whispering softly. "Daddy's not gone. Daddy's awake now. He's going to be just fine."

She sniffled into his shirt, slowly raising her teary blue eyes. "Really?"

He smiled. "Yeah. That fire was no match for your old man. He's just resting is all." With that, he set the girl on the floor. She hugged his leg just as the doctor came out again.

"He'll see you all now. His voice may be a little hoarse, but that's to be expected. Try not to cause a ruckus," she said sternly. "I'll be just outside the door."

The group nodded together, and Sora went in first, taking Kairi's little hand in his and bringing her along. Axel looked to Riku, who motioned him to go in first. He did so, entering a little white room with a bed and several machines in the corner beside it. Roxas laid propped up against a few pillows, smiling at the now ecstatic Kairi jumping in his lap.

"Oh, Daddy! I was so scared! I thought you were dead!" Her voice had lost some of its tremor, but she was still crying a little bit. Roxas hugged her gently.

"I'm proud of you for keeping it together, sweetie. You're my brave little girl."

Kairi whipped her eyes and smiled, snuggling close to him. Roxas laughed lightly as some of her hair tickled his neck.

"There's someone else here for you too," Sora said carefully. It was then that the blonde saw Axel, his eyes going wide but not in alarm.

The redhead smiled and stepped closer to the bed. "Hey, Blondie."

The tension in the room was so brief, it had hardly even been there at all. Roxas smiled, his eyes shimmering with affection.

"Axel..."

In a few easy steps, he had reached him. In another second, they were holding each other like a big happy family. It didn't take long for Axel to reach over Kairi carefully and kiss those soft lips he hadn't tasted in forever. God, he'd missed them so much.

They pulled away just as the door flew open.

"Roxas! Oh thank God, you're alright! I was so worried!" The person came up beside Axel and his eyes bugged.

This kid looked exactly like Roxas. Well, his hair was a bit longer, and looking between the two of them, Axel noticed that the newcomer was slightly younger. And suddenly there were so many questions...

The second blonde caught his gaze and his eyes widened.

"I remember you! You're that creep!"

"_Me_?"

Roxas looked between them, confused. "Ven, what's going on? Axel, how the heck did you two meet?"

For a moment no one spoke. Axel gaped at this man, now a confirmed stranger, and felt like the biggest idiot on the planet. It all made sense now...sort of.

"I-I was out drinking a while ago, and this guy was getting all up in my face! I was shit-faced at the time...That's right! You called me Roxas, didn't you?"

Axel swallowed nervously. "Yeah...Sorry, you look just like him."

"Everyone always says that!" Ven groaned, throwing up his arms. "Jeez, I don't see it at all but literally _everyone _says it! Like we're freaking twins!"

Roxas blinked at the two of them, then turned to Axel.

"So that was what it was all about? You saw my cousin and thought it was me?"

"He's your _cousin_?"

"Yes," Roxas and Ven said at the same time. It would have been hilarious if the redhead hadn't been so mortified.

"Then he...you...I..." he tried but quickly gave up, slumping forward slightly with a sheepish look. "Jeez, I'm sorry, Rox. I jumped all over you over something you had nothing to do with." Axel sighed. "I feel like a huge jerk."

"You should!" Ven snapped irritably. "After the scene you caused, Terra was so pissed he left! I didn't even get his number! And the rest of the night everybody was avoiding me like the goddamn plague!"

Roxas did something unexpected. He laughed, openly and honestly, like it was the funniest thing he's ever heard. It started soft but soon his eyes were tearing up, he's was laughing so hard. With his free hand, he motioned Axel back over.

"I probably should be pissed, but that's hilarious!" He began slowly trying to compose himself. "I-It's alright, Axel. I get it. Anyone would think the worst in a situation like _that_."

"No, it's not alright," the redhead urged. "I didn't trust you. I should have known you wouldn't lie to me. You're well within rights to hate my guts..."

The younger man smiled up at him, pulling him down for a light hug. "But I'm not. I get it, Axel. It's hard to fight what you've seen with your own eyes. Just believe me when I say I would never go behind your back like that. Not ever."

Axel kissed him softly, knowing full well he didn't deserve a man this wonderful. "I got it memorized," he said, grinning. Roxas punched his arm.

"Corny asshole..."

Ven just gaped at them. Roxas chuckled and sat back, motioning from Axel to Ven and back. "Ven, this is Axel, my boyfriend. Axel, this is my cousin Ventus."

"Whatever..." the kid mumbled, clearly still pouting. Sora chuckled.

"You two really do look like twins though." Before the angry blonde could retort, Sora turned to Axel. "Our dad had a brother with equally crazy hair as these two. I think it runs in that side of the family."

"Hey, it's not crazy!" Ven growled. "It's stylish!"

Axel snorted. "Sure it is." He didn't even flinch when Roxas whacked his arm in retaliation.

Soon, the doctor came in and politely asked if Ventus could leave, because he was making the most noise and the rooms adjacent to this one had other patients sleeping. Grudgingly, the blonde left, and everyone else got down to business. Sora and Riku were going to start their search for a new house, and after some debate, it was settled that Roxas and Kairi would stay with Axel.

"Either way, Rox, you're troubling someone," Axel pointed out.

"Great, cuz that makes me feel so much better." The blonde was pouty, but didn't seem opposed to the idea itself. Kairi had fallen asleep again by the time the talk was over, and Sora and Riku carried her to the taxi so that they could get settled in the hotel. Axel stayed behind, waiting for Roxas to be ready to go. The blonde sat on the edge of the hospital bed, lacing up his old, ratty tennis shoes. They looked even worse after the fire.

"I thought I'd lost you." The blonde looked up slightly with a soft expression.

"For a while there, I think you almost did," he said, shuffling his feet a bit as he finished the second shoe. There was an intensity in those deep blue eyes that ignited a fire in Axel. It urged him to run forward, take the blonde into his arms, and never let him go again. As their eyes met, Axel began to find the fire very hard to ignore.

The clock on the wall chimed. 4 o'clock.

"I missed you..."

What little patience Axel had left snapped in that instant. Just as Roxas moved to stand, the force slammed into him, pinning him back down on the bed and kissing him desperately, like a starving man. Roxas submitted to it easily, and as he wrapped his arms around his neck and drew him closer, the redhead saw tears starting to flow from his eyes.

"Are you alright?" He ran his hand over a smooth cheek, searching for a sign that he should walk away.

"I-I'm fine. I l-love you, Axel..."

For several more minutes, tongues and teeth lashed together, sealing off any words. There was no point to them now. Comforted, held, Axel let his worries melt away, and tried his best to give Roxas the same. When the doctor came in to take them to fill out paperwork, they were ready, and left together, hand in hand.


	26. Chapter 26

Hope it's okay. Happy AkuRoku Day 2012! :)

* * *

For a few days, things were quiet. After that hectic night at the hospital, Axel took Roxas and Kairi home with him, and life found a new kind of rhythm for them all. Axel went to work every day, coming home to a nice dinner with his boyfriend, daughter, and father. Roxas cooked and cleaned while he was away, if only to spare himself boredom. Hell, he even managed to get Reno pitching in after some time. That was amazing by itself.

When he wasn't doing that, Roxas would go on walks or go meet up with his brother. He needed to keep himself occupied, he said, and Axel was happy to give him the space he needed. The redhead was glad to have him back, but it was a very stressful time for the Strife family. Riku and Sora had started their search for a new home, living with Demyx in the meantime. Axel would have offered them space, but it was all filled at his place.

Roxas helped them out as best he could, but Axel could tell he was stressing about other things too. He didn't want to stay with Sora and Riku anymore, and while he cared about Axel, the redhead knew he felt like a burden. Though he depended on a lot of people, the younger man never liked having to.

Kairi was needy and demanding for a few days, refusing to loose her claws from Roxas's side even a minute. The fire had shaken her more than the others; at times, she would wake up sobbing between her fathers, waking them so that they could hold her. Roxas worried about her terribly, and was relieved that she began to calm after the first week after the incident. Though the nightly outbursts tore at his heart like it was tissue paper, Axel didn't buckle. He weathered the storm best, and kept his confidence in her all the way. She was a tough little girl, after all.

It was the week of the big union conference. Axel had been putting in long hours, arguing once or twice with his boss, and trying to keep things running smoothly. By the time he got home, he would be too tired to be much company. He would eat dinner with everyone, snuggle up with Roxas on the couch by the t.v. for an hour or so, then konk out whether or not Roxas and Kairi joined him. It was stressful, adding to the stress his boyfriend was already feeling. Axel just wanted to get it over with and have a nice, relaxing weekend.

He saw his chance on Friday, when the conference ended early. For once, he was home before 5, a blessing in his eyes. It was time to let loose, and he knew just what to do.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Axel? It's not been that long."

"Trust me, Roxas. She'll be fine." He whispered, just as the call was picked up. "Hello, Aqua?...Fine, fine. Could be better, but what can you do?...Yeah. So I was wondering if you would do us a huge favor and watch Kairi this weekend?"

The blonde beside him stepped forward, still hesitant. "All weekend? Axel, we can't possibly-"

"Shhhh," he hissed softly, turning away with the landline still pressed to his ear. The cord sagged a moment, then stretched, straightening the coil. "I know it's a little last-minute, but we'd really appreciate...oh...oh, really? You will? Great! Great, that's such a big help! Thank you! So, we'll see you around?...Yes, 8 PM should be perfect...Okay, thanks. Bye." He hung up, shooting his boyfriend a soft smile.

"She said she'll be here to pick up Kairi in a few hours. Apparently she has a niece in town who's just a year or two older than Kairi. Has to babysit her anyway, so she said it'd be no problem."

Roxas frowned. "I'm not sure how I feel about this."

Axel wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into a gentle hug.

"She'll be fine, Rox. She's a big girl and she's already stopped screaming at night." When the blonde refused to melt, he sighed. "I love her just as much as you do, but you can't baby her forever. She has to understand that we can't always sleep with her, or she'll grow too dependent."

He heard a soft sigh from the younger man. "I know. I just hate that I caused her that pain."

Axel patted his head. "You can't help it now. She's doing fine, and I suspect a fun weekend with someone her age will do her some good. Don't stress over it, Roxy. You've got enough on your mind as it is."

Roxas hummed, hugging him tighter before he looked up, smiling. "I guess you're right. But why the whole weekend? What could we possibly do to fill up the time?"

"Oh, I can think of a few things." Axel chuckled as his boyfriend blushed brightly, then punched his chest.

"You're horrible. But really, what will we do?"

"Oh...just, you know...stuff..."

Roxas wasn't buying it, but he thankfully dropped the matter. The redhead didn't tell him any more, especially not that he had bribed Reno to go stay at a hotel for a few days. They would have the whole place to themselves. Just in case anything...happened.

The news broke better than either of them expected. Kairi was thrilled to spend the weekend with Aqua, eagerly packing a few scattered clothes and colored pencils into the little backpack Axel had bought for her for school. She shoved Neo among the clutter, kissed both of them, and scurried out the door the second the bell rang. Roxas just stood there, blinking, as his boyfriend laughed. She would be fine, alright.

With that, Axel took the blonde by the hand and led him out the door moments later. He took him to dinner, the mall, and finally, to the movie theater within said mall. They decided on some comedy B movie, not really caring one way or the other, but it turned out to be a fun time. Roxas was smiling and laughing. He even snuggled next to Axel in the dark, letting his hands wander to more than just the popcorn bucket. Every now and then, a tickling, warm sensation would creep up his arm, tracing the sleeve softly before descending, sometimes even drifting over...

And Axel knew. He figured he'd known since their passionate moment in the hospital just a few weeks ago. But he didn't want to make a move until he was sure Roxas wanted the same. Even now, he would be sure to ask, and be sober enough to do it properly. But the movie left him feeling good about the whole thing. Very...excited...

It was very late when they returned to the house. Almost 2 in the morning, if his cellphone wasn't just screwing with him. Axel opened the door and blinked into the inky blackness of the house. It would have felt so eery, silent, and unpleasant, even with his father sleeping somewhere within. But it didn't feel that way tonight, not at all.

Roxas was beside him, smiling.

"Wow. Dark, huh?" He kicked off his vans by the door. "I wonder why Reno didn't leave the light on...Actually," he muttered, looking back out the door, "I don't see his shoes anywhere."

"Hm." Axel copied him, tossing his shoes to the side. He strode forward and flipped on a small lamp in the corner of the room. It provided some light, but not much.

Roxas shrugged his thin jacket off and draped it over the couch. "Did he say anything to you about going out tonight?"

Shifting on the balls of his feet, Axel smiled with forced innocence. "Maaaaaaybe..."

The blonde was half-way up the stairs when he paused, frowning at him.

"Did he or didn't he?...Never mind. Your weird." He made it up another step before Axel rushed forward, grabbing his wrist and tugging him back.

"Ah!" Instead of tumbling down the stairs, he smacked into Axel's chest. The redhead caught him with ease, instantly locking his arms around him to keep him from escaping. Roxas squirmed lazily in his arms, not seeming to mind as much as he wanted the other man to believe.

"Axel...Let go, would you? It's late. We should think about going..." Turning to look back at him, the blonde's words died in his throat. Even in the dim light, he could see his boyfriend's eyes gleaming at him. The gaze was pinning, even if he wasn't already trapped, and the hot and heavy look made the younger man swallow. Axel's arms tightened around him as the redhead leaned forward slowly and nuzzled his throat.

"I don't think I want to let go just yet," he said simply, beginning to mouth the sensitive skin between his neck and shoulder. He tugged the sleeve of one arm down, exposing more skin. "I'm too riled to sleep."

"A-Axel..." The blonde looked back at him, his face flushing. His breath grew heavy as Axel continued, feeling strong hands clenching tighter. It was strong, but not suffocating. Not yet, at least.

"Don't play coy with me now, Roxy. Did you think I didn't notice what you were doing earlier?"

Roxas's own hands crept over his, lacing their fingers together. "I-I wasn't...wasn't doing anything."

A smirk traced the redhead's lips, as they moved to nibble on the shell of his ear. "Oh, I think you were. Like when your hand crept over..." Mimicking his words, one of Axel's hands slipped out of Roxas's and crept slowly down his stomach. The blonde gave a little whimper. "Does that seem like nothing to you?"

"...N-No..."

"I knew it. You were trying to be sneaky, weren't you?" Axel spun the younger man around to face him, smirking wider when he saw the deep flush that was spreading to his ears. "You were. Where I'm from, that can get you into serious trouble...I might just have to punish you now..."

Roxas bit his lip. "H-How will you do that?"

"Oh don't you worry. I'll think of _something."_ Suddenly, the man scooped him into his arms, startling a gasp from Roxas. Instantly he threw his arms around the redhead's neck, clinging as he was carried up the stairs, past the dining room, and down the hall...

"Axel, wait! W-What about your dad?" he managed finally. Looking down, Axel could see a similar desire building in those blue eyes.

"Gone for the weekend. It's just you and me, Roxy," he purred back, satisfied to feel the blonde shiver in his arms.

"S-So before, when you called Aqua...you knew?"

Reaching their room, Axel stopped just before the bed, hoisting the smaller man more securely into his hold. His eyes grew softer, not smoldering and wicked as they had been a moment before.

"Sort of. I wanted to leave room open...if that was what we wanted." He looked down at the blonde gently, eyes devoid of judgement. "Would you...want that, Roxas?"

The other man knew what he was asking, maybe even more than Axel knew. They had never spoken about that night four years ago. Roxas remembered, and whatever it was had scarred him. Perhaps not as much as his mother, but a fair amount to be sure. The last thing the redhead wanted to do was force him. Even if he wanted it so much that he could barely breathe, he wouldn't move a muscle unless his boyfriend was completely sure. They could always try again someday...right?

_'Except...' _he thought, _'except I want it to be tonight.'_

There was only the faintest waiver of hesitation. Then it was gone, fading away in silence as quickly as it had come. Blue eyes swelled with love as he nestled closer to Axel, nodding.

"I do. I trust you, Axel." Voice soft, he looked up encouragingly, and the redhead felt like the happiest man in the world. He knew now how much he loved the blonde, and was aching to show him just how deep and true that love was. He would not betray that trust again.

Eyes regaining their wicked gleam, he barely had Roxas safely on the bed before he sprang.


	27. Chapter 27

Sorry to lovers of spectacle, but not much happens in this chapter. More fluff, more randomness.

* * *

Dawn came, and with it a whole new morning. But neither man stirred for several hours; they seemed perfectly content to let it pass in peace and silence.

It was almost noon when Axel opened his eyes. Blinking the bright light from them, he groaned and shifted slightly, aware that he was lying on his side. His arms draped lazily around a warm body, holding it to his chest like the most precious gift in the world.

Axel couldn't keep the smile off his face if he'd wanted to.

Reaching up, he brushed a few sweaty strands of hair from his neck. It popped once or twice when he craned his head around, but it was painful. More like a feeling of relief.

He looked down at the young man in his arms, heart swelling all over again. Roxas was smiling in his sleep; he looked so peaceful and happy, undisturbed even as soft rays of sunshine streamed into his face. His hair looked even spikier than normal, and he was laying on it funny, like a part of it would probably be stuck to his face when he got up. The thought made Axel chuckle, and he pulled his lover closer, watching him shiver unconsciously as his light hands crept up and down the man's back. Axel titled his head and brought it closer, firmly pressing those soft lips to his own.

Roxas hummed softly in his throat, eyes fluttering as he returned the kiss.

"Good morning," the redhead whispered, hugging him tighter even as they parted. Something about holding Roxas made him feel so happy. He wanted to keep doing it. To hell with getting up.

The younger man smiled softly. Even as the sunlight began fading from the window, his face was positively radiant.

"Mmmmm...Good morning." He began sitting up, only to chuckle when he was stopped by Axel's arms. "What time is it?"

"Don't know, don't care. Get back here." He jerked his lover back down, pressing feverish little kisses to his neck and face.

"Axel, stop! That tickles!" He ignored the hand pushing him away. It wasn't trying very hard anyway.

"Nope. You're staying right here." The redhead cuddled him tightly, almost crushing him. If Roxas hadn't been awake before, he certainly would be now.

"I'm never letting go again."

"B-But I have to go!"

"Tough luck for you, buddy."

"Axel!"

It took some more pleading, but finally Axel let him run to the bathroom. He watched him go sadly, all the while wondering at himself. Since when was he so affectionate the morning after?

Maybe Roxas just brought that side out of him.

Sighing miserably, Axel got up and put his pants back on, stretching before he headed for the kitchen.

It was quiet without Kairi there. He dug out some Belgian waffle mix, an iron, and some fruit, making a nice big breakfast for the two men to share.

He didn't even jump when two thin arms slid around his waist, feeling the blonde snuggle up to his back with a soft sigh.

"Sorry about making you get up. Can I help?"

Axel smiled, turning so that he could kiss his boyfriend again. He was a bit more dressed than him, Axel noted sadly, in an oversized shirt and checkered boxers. He was too covered up for the redhead's liking.

"Want bacon and eggs with this? If you take care of that, I'll do the waffles."

Roxas beamed at him, setting off to get the rest of the food going. In no time, they were at the table, enjoying the fruits of their labor together.

"It's so good," the blonde moaned, shoving a bit of waffle and strawberry in his mouth. "I could marry you."

"Hold that phone, Roxy. It's a little early," Axel teased back, taking a sip of his coffee. Black, just the way he liked it. "Would you marry me for breakfast or just my mind-blowing awesomeness?"

The younger man blushed a little. "Both?" The smile he gave Axel was adorable. Then he played absently with his fork, poking things around the plate. "You're so much more than I could have ever dreamed."

"Awwwwwww! You're the sweetest guy ever, Roxas. If we weren't at the table, I'd make love to you all over again."

Roxas turned very red then. Axel almost had to strain to hear his next words. He was sure he wasn't supposed to have heard them.

"What did you say? Hm?" The blonde looked down, mortified. "You'd like that, wouldn't you Roxy? You want me to, right now?"

"W-Why would you think that? I didn't say anything like that!"

"I heard it!" Axel said gleefully, pushing back from his chair so fact that it groaned on the tile. Instantly, Roxas jumped up, backing away. "Hey! Where do you think you're going? Come back here!"

"A-Axel!"

They chased each other around the house a few too many times. Roxas was beside himself with laughter by the time his boyfriend caught him. The threat passed quickly; they were tired and didn't want to spend the whole day sitting around. So they finally settled on a shower. It was intimate, but wouldn't hold them up for the rest of the day.

Hopefully...

Roxas waited until the redhead had stepped into the shower before he cranked up the cold water.

"Je-jesus Christ! Cold! Cold! Fuck, that's cold!" He chuckled as Axel fumbled around behind the curtain, sticking his head out a minute later to glare at him. "Roxas! That was a dick move!"

"I wanted to make sure you weren't serious about earlier. I did you a favor." Axel kept glowering, but he laughed on. "You got your cold shower."

"Hahaha, very funny. I forgot to laugh, it's so funny. Now get your ass in here or I will make good on that threat."

Roxas let himself be pulled in. Any nervousness he might have felt was washed away instantly as Axel worked some soothing shampoo into his hair. The feel of fingers massaging his scalp was nice. He relaxed into it with ease. Who knew a couple's shower could be so nice?

They talked about what to do with the rest of the day. Roxas tossed around a few ideas before the two of them settled on a carnival that had come to town the following week. It'd be over by the end of the day, but it was something to do.

Axel shut the water off and they got dressed together, joking and jostling the whole time. Things seemed like they couldn't be better.

"Did you grab the keys?"

Roxas checked his jean pockets, then frowned. "No, they're probably still upstairs."

"Go grab them then. We don't have all day."

"Sure we do," he said back, sticking out his tongue. "So bossy."

Axel raised an eyebrow as he slipped on one tennis shoe.

"The carnival is running til 5. Do you want to get there before they start packing things up?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming."

As he watched his lover disappear upstairs, Axel smiled. He sat down at the foot of the stairs and tugged the other shoe on, thinking about everything.

Sex had been...surprising. Roxas could be so aggressive in bed. Axel never would have pegged him to be so dominating, or so vocal for that matter.

Just like that night on the beach...

Not that he didn't like it. He _loved _it. But damn it if Roxas wasn't the craziest, sexiest guy he'd ever bedded. And all that with barely any experience...

"Hey, I got the keys." Roxas sat down beside him on the narrow step, looking up at him with the goofiest grin ever. "Earth to Axel. I've got the keys. We can go now."

"Hmmm...Not sure I want to go now." Roxas chuckled as he was pulled into his boyfriend's lap. "I keep thinking about last night."

"Yeah, well, quit it. I want to go out." Axel gave him sad eyes.

"More sexy time later?"

The blonde sighed heavily. "Sure, okay, can we go now? Please, Axel?" He bounced once excitedly, looking so much like a kid at Christmas that the other man had to laugh.

"God, I don't know who is worse. Me or you." He kissed Roxas deeply for a moment, then pulled away. "I reeeeeaaaaally wish we could do it now."

"Axel...Please?"

"Okay, Roxy." He got up slowly, lifting the blonde with him. Once standing again, he set him on his feet. "Only for you."

For the rest of the day nothing mattered. Not the fact that they were blowing cash on cheap games and rides. Not the fact that Axel couldn't win ring toss, balloon burst, or any game if his life depended on it. All that mattered was that they were together, having good, cheap, expensive fun.


	28. Chapter 28

Axel sat hunched over his desk, furiously typing away. His article was due to the editor before he left for the day, and he needed to fill up the last page with decent content. He had taken a trip the week before to interview a few pilots regarding the latest air safety laws and had to record their detailed responses for the magazine. The redhead paused a second, scrolling to the desktop to a picture of the men and women in question, and drag it into the word document.

The work was only mildly interesting, but he kept a decent pacing, grinning widely like an idiot the whole while.

Tonight he was getting some serious Roxas time.

He had started upping Aqua's pay to compensate for all of the nights he would randomly call her up to babysit. She was truly a saint for helping them with this; Roxas and he had plenty of time to be alone nowadays because she showed up practically at the push of a button. It was a shame that he didn't trust his father to watch Kairi, but then, this was Reno. At least he could take a hint and left home or just stayed away when they were in the mood...

Their intimacy as a couple had vastly improved in the short month that Roxas had come to live with him, and despite a few minor arguments over stupid things like dishes and such, they were getting along very well. They repurposed one room for Roxas's use, where he could get away when he needed alone time, and the blonde really seemed to appreciate the gesture. He would retreat in there sometimes to read or watch t.v. and Axel was content to let him do it, so long as he was happy and generally good-humored. Roxas was also becoming quite bold in the bedroom as well. Just the other day, he snuck into Axel's shower and-

_Beep beep. _

Axel blinked at the little blinking red light on his office phone. Leaning back a bit in his chair, he pushed the speaker button.

"Sup bitch?" He was answered with a sigh.

"Should you really be answering a business phone like that, Axel?" The redhead grinned.

"Probably not. What can I do you for, Roxy?"

"Before you come home, can you stop by the store and grab one or two things for me?" Roxas insisted on making a nice romantic dinner for the two of them. Reno had firmly told them that he wasn't leaving tonight, so he could probably be counted on to eat up the leftovers.

"Sure. Want me to take a list?" Grabbing a pen, he jotted down the few things they needed on the corner of his desk calendar. He'd transfer it to a sticky note later, when he could find one. Deborah, the CEO, liked to horde a lot of supplies in her personal office. Thankfully, just as he'd predicted, she was becoming rapidly unpopular with everyone else, especially after a somewhat embarrassing screw up when meeting with the branch of the N.A.A. in Halloween Town. With any luck, someone else would be taking her job soon and he could move further up.

The conversation turned sexual almost immediately after that, and Axel could practically feel his lover's blush radiating from the landline. Roxas was getting more daring, but he was still so cute and flustered. Axel liked the latter side of him more, but he wasn't one to complain if the blonde wanted to take the initiative. It spiced things up nicely.

"A-Are you sure no one is listening in? I'd hate to get you in t-trouble..."

"I promise, Roxy." He smirked, clicking off the speaker button just to be sure. No one ever came by his office anyway. He rested the phone against his cheek, whispering huskily. "When I get home, you're the only one who'll be in trouble. I might just have to punish you again."

Roxas swallowed on the other end of the line. He really seemed to dig dominant-submissive role-playing.

"Aren't you curious, Roxy? I have some fun ideas you might like..."

"D-Don't you have work to do?" The redhead chuckled.

"Caught me there. I'll finish up as quickly as I can, then we can pick this up again." He purred a little, relishing teasing the younger man. He could sense the eye-rolling.

"Do a good job, and don't forget to grab that stuff. Kairi's juice boxes are running low."

Axel smiled. "Kay. Love you Roxas. Bye."

As he resumed typing, Axel thought of that dream he'd had all that time ago. That silly Norman Rockwell fantasy of Roxas as his adorable little housewife, and him, middle aged, perfectly content and in love. How weird and alien it had seemed back then. Now, it seemed like a perfect reality. Kairi would grow up, go to school, get into boys or girls or maybe both, and maybe go off and start her own family. Roxas and he would grow old together, maybe see a grandchild or two.

He paused a moment, considering it. Was he ready for that?...Was that what settling down meant?

In school, he'd been a sex machine. After that first confusing encounter with Saix, he had blown through his fair share of girls and guys, loving life but also feeling...kind of weird inside. Maybe it was emptiness that he felt. He had filled a void, so to speak, but it had left a bigger one in his heart.

Now...now a part of him kind of missed that old life. Was it fun?...Sort of. Fulfilling? No, not really. But it was familiar.

And what if Roxas wasn't the one? They felt so good together, and Axel loved him so much, but... was that all there was to it? He had never been in love before; not really. This felt right, but was it?

Axel shook the thoughts away. He had a great life and a wonderful boyfriend and son. How could he even consider fucking that up?

_'I kind of fucked it up to begin with, though,' _he thought honestly. He had. Roxas had been struggling to find work with Kairi in tow. Without Axel, the two of them would be in trouble. Maybe not out on the street, but definitely in a bad spot.

Sora and Riku were still-

_Beep beep._

Speak of the devils.

Axel picked up the phone again, pressing it to his ear. "Sup bitch?"

"Excuse me?" The redhead burst into uproarious laughter.

"Kidding, kidding. What's the word, Riku?"

"Did you check the caller id before you answered, Fire Crotch? Expecting a call from Roxas?"

"No, I did see th...ah, nevermind. How's the home hunting going?" He heard a sigh from the other line.

"Okay, I guess. Not much luck, and the stuff I have found Sora never seems to like."

Axel nodded. "Probably the wedding anxiety still. He was really looking forward to tying the knot. Then to have all this shit dumped on him, it can't be easy."

"I know. It's hard on me too. But I think first priority is having a place to live. How's life with Kairi and Roxas?"

They chatted a little bit about nothing in particular. Riku was having a tough time, what with Sora PMSing almost 24-7. He was a bearer, like Roxas, half genetically engineered to reproduce, and so you could honestly say he was PMSing. Why oh why did science feel the need to inflict hormonal imbalances on guys? It was scary enough when women did it.

Despite needing to finish up, Axel listened, trying to be a good friend. Riku was a nice guy and he owed him quite a bit, so it was no trouble. It wasn't until he looked at the clock and winced. Had it been that long?

"Hey listen, Riku? I hate to cut you off, man, but I have to finish some stuff up at the office before I can go home."

"It's cool," the other man replied. "Thanks for listening."

"No problem. We'll meet up sometime for drinks or something."

They hung up and Axel determinedly went back to typing, straining to focus. Between Riku's shit and his own mid-life crisis, topped by his current sexual anticipation-frustration, it was really hard to get that last page in the document. He worked at it for another thirty minutes, looked at the clock again and whimpered.

Finally he gave up. He dragged and pasted a few more pictures to take up the page, finishing up the writing with some dumb blurb about positive horizons or some crap. He barely read it as he saved the document. Axel certainly wasn't up for proof reading the thing eight more times. That could be the chief editor's job.

He packed up his stuff hurriedly, checking his phone for the time as he left the building. _'6:20. Shit.' _Hopefully he could make it to the subway in time. The next train after the 6:30 didn't come for almost 45 minutes.

Axel rushed through the crowd of other corporate drones leaving work and thankfully caught the train right before the doors closed. He grabbed the safety rail and held tight as the car jolted into motion, making the passengers jerk a little before settling perfectly upright again.

Someday, he was going to invest in a car.

The man watched the dark tunnel pass by outside the windows, broken up here and there by patches of scenery. The sky was growing dark; rays of red, orange, and purple spread over the sky as the sun dipped beneath the land. He caught a few glimpses, but turned his thoughts back to Roxas.

"Shit, the list!"

A woman seated nearby cupped her hands over her small child's ears, shooting him a glare. He flipped her the bird and pulled out his cellphone, but upon dialing once, twice, even three times, he got no answer from home. Was no one by the phone, or had they just stepped out?

Oh well. Take out was fine with him.

A stop came and went, and Axel rolled his eyes as other passengers pushed past and jostled him. It was crowded this time of day; he preferred to leave a little early, boss be damned, and miss the rush hour traffic. Usually he would make up for it by taking little to no lunch break, but today he just said screw it. It didn't take much to convince a man if sex was involved...

He got off the train and hurried home, walking briskly. As he got closer to his block, he noticed several cars parked on the street, including...a police car? Wait, two?

Suddenly, his heart began to beat wildly. This was giving him bad deja vu. Axel saw a crowd of people in front of his place, but no smoke or fire coming from it. What happened?

The redhead broke into a run, shouting for people to move and carelessly plowing his way through. He then saw the door standing wide open. A slight flash of blue turned the corner into the front hall; a few officers were checking inside while Reno stood outside talking to another one.

"Dad!" The other redhead looked up at the sound of his name. He waved the officer back as Axel approached, breathlessly huffing. "What's going on? What happened?"

"Hell if I know. I just got back literally a minute ago. I went to pick up some beer and pizza, and when I came back the door was open and the place was all torn apart inside."

The officer coughed, drawing their attention. "It looks to be a case of breaking and entering. Objects have been disturbed in the house, but nothing appears to be missing so far."

"Chief!" Another officer came out of the house hurriedly, tapping the first on the shoulder. "We found signs of a struggle further back in the house."

"Who would do something like this?" Reno asked worriedly, looking back at the house. Axel's eyes widened then, and he sprang forward and grabbed his father's jacket, shaking him slightly.

"Dad, where are Roxas and Kairi? Please tell me they went with you!" The other redhead faltered a moment, but shook his head.

"I don't know."


	29. Chapter 29

The plot thickens!...Maybe.

People are already guessing who done it. Maybe they're right, maybe not. Also, just sos you know, I'm not picturing this as the epic climax on which the story ends but who knows?

I appreciate people making this story such a hit. I find it funny because it's so soap opera-ish even when I try to make it seem real and believable, but it has the most reviews and follows I think of all my stuff. Who am I to complain? I'm glad people like it. I'm having fun with it, even if I do feel like a mean goddess of sorts, tormenting these poor tiny lives like it's The Sims. I think the next big conflict in the story should be me deleting all their toilets! XD

* * *

There was nothing they could do, the police said. They had to wait for a ransom, the police said. Why the fuck did they even have police if they couldn't do anything?!

Axel paced restlessly through the living room, biting the absolute shit out of his nails.

"Son, you've gotta chill out."

"Chill out? Chill out?! Dad, my boyfriend and daughter are missing! Possibly dead! How can you expect me to chill out?!" Axel shouted, rounding on Reno furiously. The older redhead raised his hands defensively.

"You wanna stress over it before we even know what's going on? Fine. For all we know, Roxas went out somewhere or something."

"First of all, we had a romantic evening planned, so no. Second, why would he go somewhere and not tell anyone or leave a note?" Reno looked like he was about to say something, but Axel cut him off. "AND third, you expect me to assume that his and Kairi's disappearance has NOTHING WHAT-SO-FUCKING-EVER to do with our house looking like it weathered a zombie apocalypse?"

"It doesn't look that bad," the other man replied, scratching the back of his head as he surveyed the room. Axel's eye twitched. He could feel his face beginning to heat up. While he was on the subject of pointless things to do while waiting, why not add punching his father to the list? Yeah, that sounded good.

Just then a knock came at the door. Before Reno could say anything, Axel was turning the knob. He moved aside to let in Riku, who was supporting a hysterical Sora.

Out of spite, he turned to Reno and jabbed his pointer finger in their direction.

"You think Roxas would just up and leave and not let Sora know at least?"

"Well, there was that incident when the kid stayed out to long and you thought he'd-"

"Just fucking shut up, Dad."

Riku helped Sora to the couch and sat down with him, holding him comfortingly. The brunet sniffled and shook violently.

"How c-could this have h-h-happened?" He shot Axel an angry look. "W-Where were y-you, Axel?! H-He's in t-trouble now because of y-you!"

The redhead almost snapped before Riku beat him to it.

"That's not fair, Sora. Axel's doing the best he can." The silver haired man stroked his back, trying to calm him. "We have to be patient now. I'm sure Kairi and Roxas as fine." He said that, but when he looked up at Axel, the redhead could see he was just as worried. There was still no word, no motive. This could be a random psycho without a single ounce of human compassion.

They wouldn't know until they got the call. Hopefully there was going to be a call.

Reno left them alone for a while. He wasn't really good with emotional outbursts, and he'd proven already that he just made the situation worse. Axel knew that he was right to some extent, but he knew his father well enough to also know that Reno was at least partly in denial. It may be said that no one really handles unfortunate surprises well, but Reno was especially bad about it. He hadn't taken well to his wife leaving all those years ago. And now he had grown so attached to Kairi...

Axel sighed, resting his head in his hands. _'I'm one to talk.'_

He started to think about unpleasant things. It probably didn't help that Sora was bawling and speculating just across the room, but he thought about his doubts earlier that day and how...miniscule they seemed now. Miniscule compared to what he was feeling now.

What if he never saw Roxas or Kairi again? God forbid, but what if one or both of them were killed?

What was the last thing he'd said to Roxas? Bye? Good god, he didn't want his last words to the blonde to be 'bye!' He wanted to hold Roxas and tell him how much he loved him, how much he meant to him and all the light Roxas brought to his life. And Kairi...

He hated to think of how scared she would be. She was a smart kid, but she was nowhere near ready for anything like this. No kid should have to go through something like this!

Without thinking, he raised his head up and bit down on his knuckle. What were they going through right this minute? Were they even still alive?

"Axel, calm down. You're scaring Sora."

He shot an angry look at the silver haired man.

"Oh, sorry," he sneered. "I'm being selfish. Forgive me, Sora, I know this must be hard on you."

"He's my brother!" the brunet shouted back, gripping Riku tightly. "My brother and niece are missing right now, possibly hurt or worse!"

"How do you think I feel?!"

"Enough!" Riku said firmly, making them both sit back, wide eyed. He looked between them disapprovingly. "We're ALL worried, okay? The both of you need to stop being selfish and focus on what really matters. Roxas and Kairi."

Axel looked down, flushing red. It was so easy to yell and point fingers, but being worried was genuinely hard. It was hard, but he felt like a victim too, and he wasn't. Not really. There were more important things right now.

"You're right. Sorry, Riku." The man nodded, looking down at Sora expectantly. The brunet scoffed.

"Sorry..." Riku nodded again, satisfied. He then reached for the t.v. remote.

"Let's try to focus on something." He flipped to some random reality show about extreme cat ladies or something and sat back, pulling Sora back against him. They sat and watched for a while, not really focusing, but it kind of helped. Axel wanted to laugh once or twice. Almost.

Hours passed and still no word from the kidnapper. Shows came and went, but the viewers had all stopped caring long ago. After a mini fight with Riku, Sora was allowed to go to the kitchen and break into a tub of sea salt ice cream. Axel never knew he liked it before.

"He doesn't like it," Riku said softly, listening to his fiance rummage around in the cupboard for a bowl. "He's just craving something that will help with the stress. Women get a bad rap for that, but we all do it."

"I know." The redhead felt himself fighting the urge to go get a six pack and plow through it. He liked drinking from time to time, but it did become a lot more attractive when he was agitated or stressed.

Sora was nice enough to bring them each a little bit. He was still a little tense with Axel, but the guy seemed to realize that fighting wasn't going to solve anything. They ate their ice cream in silence in the darkened living room, the glare from the t.v. as the only light source. Soon, the sun was going to be up.

Axel rubbed the bags under his eyes and groaned. He was so tired but too restless to sleep. He thought of the phrase "too tired to sleep," musing it around in his head absently. How could someone be too tired to sleep?...Well, okay, maybe there were different types of tired.

His next thoughts were interrupted by a shrill ring.

"It's them!" Sora screeched, pushing away from Riku and sprinting for the landline.

Axel beat him to it.

"H-Hello?"

"Hi. This is Mark Sanders, attorney for Sanders & Son. If you or anyone you know has used or test the male enhancement hormone called-"

_Slam._

Riku and Sora stared at him, faces blanks and wondering. He just shook his head.

"One of those shitty taped calls." The redhead looked down in anger. How could the world just keep turning? How could those douches call at a time like this?! Didn't they know what was happening?!

Before he could move back to the armchair, his pocket buzzed.

Careful not to hope too high a second time, he fished out his cellphone and checked the id. An unknown number.

Hesitantly, he answered.

"Hello?"

"Axel?"

He blinked, vaguely recognizing the voice. It couldn't be...

"Uh...yes. You're that...uh, Ventus kid, right?"

"I'm not a fucking kid!" Yep, it was him. It was a little unnerving how much he even sounded like Roxas. "What the hell is going on? The news just made a report that my cousin is missing!"

Axel rubbed his forehead. He was in no mood to deal with this right now. Without a word, he tossed the cell to Sora, who just barely managed to catch it.

"Hey!"

"It's your cousin. Deal with it."

Sora looked ready to fight again, but he placed the phone to his ear, only to jerk it away as the voice on the other end began shouting.

"Geez, Ven!...What? No, no, we don't know yet...No! Goddamn it, Ven, calm down!"

Axel rolled his eyes as he resumed his place in the chair. He was thankful when the brunet finally took the phone and left the room. It was getting loud.

Ventus made it clear from his first visit that he was not happy with Axel. Not just for that night at the bar; he didn't think Axel was a good guy for Roxas to date, especially given their history together. The other blonde loved Kairi though; he didn't blame her like he blamed Axel. Not that he should blame her, but then...

_'Whatever...'_

Sora was on the phone for a while before he finally came back, looking worn and irritable as he snuggled up to his fiance again.

"He kept insisting he was going to come over. I told him no. I don't think we need any more tension in this room." Everyone nodded.

Riku gave the man a sympathetic look as he rubbed his tired, red eyes.

"Do you want to go lie down for a while? It might help." He looked at Axel. "I'll listen for the phone."

Axel shook his head. "Couldn't sleep even if I wanted to." He didn't think he'd get any sleep til Roxas and Kairi were safely back in his arms.

"Same," Sora said glumly.

More time passed. A couple more calls came, none of them offering any answers or reassurances. More dumb t.v. shows that no one was really watching; they were staring, sure, but no one was really seeing.

The redhead wanted to scream. Why hadn't the kidnapper called yet? Was he/she ever going to call?! There had to be a reason for this madness!

When the landline rang again, it was almost 8 a.m. Shooting up in his seat, Axel answered the phone, swearing to kill if it was another prank, solicitor, or relative.

"Hello," he answered warily.

"A-Axel!" The man froze at that voice. Kairi never called him that. Always carrothead or something like that...

"Kairi? Kairi, are you alright?!"

"I'm scared! I-I want you and Daddy! I w-want to go home!"

"It's going to be alright, sweetie," he promised, feeling himself shake with relief and fear. "Where are you? Are you hurt?"

"N-No, I don't. I-" The conversation was suddenly cut, and Axel's eyes widened as he heard her cry grow louder, then more distant.

"As you can hear, Mr. Flynn, your daughter is alive and safe. For now..." The voice was hard to distinguish. It was low, deep, but sounded robotic somehow. Like it had been changed to be unrecognizable for the call. "Are the police with you?"

"No." He waved his hand to stop Sora, who looked to be dialing their number that very moment. The brunet put down his cell, looking at him worriedly.

"Are they listening in?"

"No. The police are gone."

"Good..."

Riku motioned to him, asking what was going on, but the redhead was too engrossed in the call to care. Sora came closer, almost breathing on his neck, straining to hear what little he could.

"What have you done to Roxas?" he demanded.

"He's asleep at the moment. I'll be sure to give him your regards when we wakes up." Axel growled.

"Don't play games with me! He better be okay, or I swear-"

"You'll what? You're in no position to do anything at the moment, and I'd be careful what I say if I were you. Who knows what worse things could happen to your family."

Straining to remain calm, Axel tapped his fingers on the table impatiently.

"What do you want? Money?" The other man chuckled.

"No, Mr. Flynn. My associate and I simply want you."


	30. Chapter 30

Xemnas turned off the voice app and snapped his phone closed with a sigh. He looked pityingly at the small child curled up in the corner, clutching her stuffed doll and crying softly, wishing there was something he could do to comfort her. He'd always had a soft spot for children, maybe because he had always wanted one but wasn't genetically equipped for bearing.

This wasn't right. For days, he'd been telling himself how distinctly _not right_ it was. Maybe he was going soft, but more likely, he was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with his friend's unhinged behavior. Xemnas had never been an ideal child, and yeah, sure, he had ties to plenty of things that could get him in trouble, but he wasn't the sort of criminal who went around beating people up or murdering them for petty reasons. Usually...

He refused to do so, until Saix had come knocking a few months ago...

Xemnas ran a hand through his hair absently, thinking.

_'What was my old policy? Never get involved with ex's?' _Oh well. Too late for that now.

He and Saix had a complicated history. They had met when Saix was just getting out of high school; Xemnas had been on the streets for a while, doing odd jobs and some things of a less than savory nature. From there, they became friends, dated at one point but then, after a rather turbulent period, they mutually decided to end the whole affair. At least, Xemnas had thought it was mutual. It seemed like it at the time.

He had some feelings for the guy and Saix seemed like he might still feel something too, but it just didn't seem worth it.

Years later, and who shows up at his door again? Saix, in a foul mood and demanding he stay with him for a few days. A few days turned into weeks and then into months before he opened up about why he was so pissed off, and in the meantime, they started screwing again. Not dating, just lots of sex. Xemnas didn't even remember why he did it half the time. Loneliness, maybe, or boredom. But Saix wanted it and he was content to go along with it.

Suddenly, his friend starts talking about big plans. Some redheaded piece of ass stiffed him for a weepy blonde bimbo. Xemnas started coming home to the man tearing apart his apartment in fits of rage. He'd come close to kicking the guy out several times, but...didn't. Once again, he found his own behavior completely incomprehensible. Saix begged him to help him get revenge on the guy, and he'd agreed for the sake of their history together and sparing his furniture from further abuse.

But why did they have to involve an innocent girl? Xemnas wasn't happy about that. He still wasn't happy with it. Maybe the blonde kid deserved what was coming, although he doubted it. He'd listened to the story enough times and didn't see the issue, but nodded politely for Saix's sake. He didn't his friend to hurt himself, or get his ass thrown in jail. But the girl didn't do anything wrong.

Maybe...maybe jail was a good place for him. This twat was a far cry from the Saix he knew.

Slipping the phone back into his pocket, he tried to give the child a look that wasn't too intimidating. Hard, because he was a big guy born with yellow eyes, and kidnapping her had that affect in the first place.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty? Cold?" She shook her head each time.

"I want Daddy!"

Xemnas nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

He locked the door behind him and went to the upper part of the building. It used to be a storage warehouse for a local company, but had been abandoned for a while. There was a kitchen upstairs near the office. The man figured he'd make her a sandwich while he was there. She was probably pretty hungry even though she'd declined his offer.

Stopping at the office door, he knocked. He heard a growl from inside and took that as his cue. Entering, he saw Saix standing over a small, blonde man, panting heavily.

"I gave Axel the address. He should be over here soon." Saix barely seemed to notice his presence. Xemnas placed his hands on his hips, irritated again. "What makes you think he won't bring the police with him?"

"If he wants to see his daughter alive again, he'd better fucking not!" the other man snapped, glaring at him angrily. He'd better not indeed. They were going to rot for this one, he could feel it...

Xemnas looked down at the unconscious man on the floor.

"What about him? Are you going to kill him, or just slap him around some more?"

Saix glared down at him with cold hatred. "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm going to make him wish he'd never met Axel. Then I will kill him."

Something in him snapped a little. Xemnas strode over and grabbed his friend by his shirt, forcing him to look at him again. Xemnas hated being used, even if he let himself be used. He was tired of making that mistake again and again.

"You made this my business, Saix! You know what? It wasn't worth it!" Saix glared at him viciously. "Axel is not going to take you back!" he shouted, shaking him hard. "He's not even going to consider it if you hurt his lover and child! What could you possibly think this is going to accomplish?!"

"Are you jealous, Xemnas?" the blue-haired man seethed back, throwing him off with surprising ease. He brushed his arms off where the other man had grabbed him, but Xemnas had the satisfaction of knowing they'd bruise. "Jealous because he's mine? You can't have me, and it's killing you. I can see it."

"If that shit isn't the pot calling the kettle black, I don't know what is."

Saix just scoffed, wedging his shoe under the blonde's cheek and kicking so that he rolled onto his back.

"It doesn't matter what you want. It doesn't matter what you or Axel or this bitch or anyone wants. It doesn't even matter what I want." He kicked hard, making the man grunt and stir. "I know it's meant to be. I can't go against destiny."

"What destiny?" Xemnas groaned, gripping his hair and tugging a bit in frustration. "You're not making any goddamn sense."

"You just don't get it." His eyes, so similar to Xemnas's own, golden and cold, seemed to glow with a strange light. It was unnerving. Everything, really; his posture, his words, his eyes, everything about Saix was unsettling. The only thing stopping Xemnas from saying it was that then it'd be out in the open. An undisputed truth.

Saix was totally mad.

He looked at his old friend with new eyes as the blonde on the floor scrambled back away from Saix, fumbling to move with his hands bound behind him.

"Please," he begged, looking at Xemnas hopefully. He seemed to think the other man was his best bet, given Saix's cold, inhuman stare. "Please let my daughter go."

"Shut up!" Saix snarled, back-handing him. The blonde winced as he hit the floor hard, his arms digging uncomfortably against his back. He looked up fearfully as the violent man stood over him, then fisted his hair painfully.

"Look at me, Roxas. I'm the one you have to worry about here." Roxas did as he was told, and Xemnas could see the tears gathering in his eyes as his gaze crossed Saix's.

"Don't hurt her. You can do whatever you want to me, but please let her go."

Watching him beg made Xemnas's gut twist a little. One of the things that kept him out of heavy things like murder was that he was a sympathetic guy. It was kind of a curse, really; he could well imagine how terrifying it was, not knowing what was going to happen to you or a loved one. Hoping, praying that at least they would be unharmed. Roxas was handling the fear quite well, all things considered, but the silver-haired man wanted to leave the room badly. He had just the vaguest idea what Saix was planning, and if it was that, it wasn't going to be pretty.

"I'm afraid she's next when I'm finished with you, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it." Roxas started to struggle and beg again, his tears spilling out over his cheeks. Saix just punched him, glaring in disgust as he began choking his pitiful words away.

They were really going to kill her? Xemnas's eyes widened and he turned away, hand grasping the door handle tightly. No, no, he couldn't let that happen. Not to a kid, anyway. He had no connection to Roxas whatsoever, but Kairi was sweet and innocent. She wasn't bad at all, just always in the wrong place at the wrong time. He'd barely been able to help her last time, drawing her away from the fire before it spread and trapped her upstairs.

Not keen on sticking around, Xemnas left to check Axel's position. If the redhead wasn't near enough by now, then he could sneak Kairi out while Saix was distracted. It would suck for Roxas, but the blonde made it clear that he wanted his daughter safely away.

That much at least Xemnas could do for him. He owed him so much more for this mess.


	31. Chapter 31

Sora practically begged to go with him, but Axel and Riku wouldn't have it. It would be too dangerous. Even though he was worried, the brunet told Riku go with him. Axel didn't even bother trying to fight that one. He had no idea what was waiting for him, and he might need someone else there. And the voice had said to not involve the police. Who else could he trust?

On the train they were mostly silent, sitting in the back where no one else paid them any mind.

"If this guy doesn't like you being there, you have to promise to go, alright?"

Riku frowned. "Only if you promise not to do anything stupid."

"Define 'stupid.'" The tension broke for a moment as his friend chuckled, and even Axel smiled a little.

"Something that'll get you killed." As long as they came out of this alive and brought Roxas and Kairi safely home, they'd be fine. That was all that mattered.

"I'll try."

They exited the train and made their way to the location the voice had mapped out. They turned off the well-paved path, walking through a small maze of trees before ending up at a large building. There was a road out front leading into another part of the forest and a large parking lot on the side, devoid of cars.

"So...it's a factory?" Axel asked.

"It looks like a warehouse, but I've never seen such a large one." They drew closer, looking up at the dark-tinted windows and finding nothing.

As they got to the front of the building, Riku's eyes widened.

"I know that logo!" Brushing aside some of the dust, he revealed an interesting icon that was vaguely heart-shaped. "Kingdom Incorporated! It was the leading pharmaceutical corporate conglomerate 50 years ago!"

"How do you remember it?" Axel asked impatiently, his eyes fixed on the storehouse.

"My uncle worked for them. He was with them until the company shut down." Blinking at the memory, the silver-haired man shook his head. "It was almost exactly 50 years ago that they shut down."

Axel shot him a wary look.

"Do you think the company still owns this building?"

"No. More likely the building has been out of use for years." Despite its impressive size and structure, the storehouse was thoroughly dilapidated. "Whoever is behind this is probably just using this place. Who would think to look for them here?"

"Riku, I want you to text Sora." His friend looked at him sideways. "Tell him to call the police in a hour if he hasn't heard from us. Only in an hour!" Axel urged. He wasn't sure how long it would take to comb the place, but he wanted to be on the safe side.

"Okay...I can't guarantee he'll listen though."

"He has to. Tell him Roxas and Kairi could be hurt if he calls any sooner." The redhead only hoped they could find the two and save them before it came to that. But in this out-of-the-way storehouse on the outskirts of the woods, they could easily lose their cellphone signals. The kidnapper may have been banking on that...

"Done." Riku snapped his flip phone closed then pocketed it as they tried the front door. It was locked. "Any plan in mind?"

"Other than what I mentioned on the train? Nope. There wasn't much to go on." He had no idea what these people wanted with him, but his gut was twisting nervously the longer the answer evaded him. He hated not knowing what he was up against.

They walked around to the far side and entered through a smaller door there. It looked like an emergency exit that was severely rusting; it caved easily under their combined weight. Then came a long hallway, its walls greying slightly where they might once have been white. That eerie, sterile white that always seems to be hospitals, despite its feeling of coldness and despair...

The dread welled up inside Axel all the more.

At the end of the hall, there was a set of stairs and a double door. This door seemed in better shape; it was locked and refused to budge at all. Hearing no response beyond it, and being unable to get the thing to budge, they took the stairs, scaling several flights and check the doors that seemed to appear on every other floor.

"This place is huge," the redhead remarked absently, as his friend turned another stiff handle.

"Yeah. I think I remember hearing that they had two other places like this working in production and storage. This is the third biggest one, I'm pretty sure."

"Third?!" Axel couldn't imagine a storehouse bigger than this place. He hadn't even seen much of the interior yet, but from the outside... "You'd think people could see this hulky thing from space!"

Riku rolled his eyes. "It was a huge company. It only makes sense."

"Still..."

They moved to the next floor. They were quite a ways up by now. How high did this damn thing go?

"Wow. Does that say what I think it does?" Axel squinted at the wall as Riku tried the door. Surprisingly, it clicked open with ease. "Isn't that...illegal or something?"

"Nah. Most older buildings don't have one because people are superstitious. Plenty of newer buildings have a 13th floor now." Riku brushed the thick coat of dust off the wall number. "I think there are two more floors after this one."

Axel shook his head, walking through the door into another long hallway. Before he could speak, however, his cell phone went off. The man jumped a little as he fumbled for the phone. He checked the number, throat dry as he swallowed and answered hesitantly.

"We're here."

"I saw," replied the voice, still indistinguishable. "Unfortunately this building has very few devices inside that are still operational." Axel glanced up at the ceiling, finding a camera above them a short distance away. There was no light, no indication that someone was watching. "Your friend is not an officer, correct?"

The redhead nodded, then remembered that the kidnapper couldn't see it. Riku looked at him questioningly for a moment.

"He's not."

"Good. You are fortunate that I was monitoring the surveillance cameras. It wasn't a smart move bringing him here. My associate is not fond of meddlers."

"What is it you want?" He could have sworn he heard a sigh coming through the jumbled frequencies. Or perhaps it was static. There was a slight pause, regardless.

"...I'm willing to make you an offer, Mr. Flynn. My associate and I...seem to be at crossed purposes."

"How so?" Axel replied, eyes widening.

"That doesn't concern you. What does concern you, I am sure, is the safety of your daughter."

"What about Roxas?" he demanded, the cold fear in his gut twisting tighter. They hadn't...they couldn't have...

"I was getting to that...Your lover is in trouble, and my associate will not appreciate your friend's presence. He does not yet know you are here. Kairi is with me, behind the building. I propose that your friend meet me out back and take Kairi from me, and in the meantime I will direct you to where you can find Roxas."

"How do I know this isn't some trap? You still haven't told me what part I play in this mess."

This time, he definitely heard a sigh.

"Our original plan was to exchange you with the hostages, but that is no longer the case. I did not account for his...state of mind when I agreed to assist him, and I want no part in this scheme of his any longer..." The sound of wind, or some static, and the voice, more deep and human, but suddenly more distant, spoke again. "Kairi, Axel is on the phone. Let your father know you're okay."

And another loud, broken sound came through. A sob.

"Axel! I'm here!" The redhead smiled sadly, so relieved to hear her again.

"I know, sweetie, I hear you. Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm okay. Xem-"

The voice was cut off abruptly and the rush of air grew louder as the phone was taken away. Then the garbled voice returned.

"She is alive and unhurt. Send your friend to retrieve your daughter quickly and I will help you as best I can. We have little time."

"Why? What is going to happen?" he asked warily.

"I can guarantee that if we don't hurry, Roxas will be dead."

Axel felt his breathe stop. His mind seemed to stop all together, smacked in the face with this horrible notion. He had feared, and long suspected, that this could happen, but he'd hoped...

A distant noise filled the phone. Kairi must have heard. The redhead felt like punching this guy, whoever he was, for upsetting her. For all of this mess, really. Taking Kairi and Roxas, traumatizing his poor family, and putting them in danger for some still unknown reason...

Gripping the phone until his knuckle turned white, he asked, "How long do I have?"

"Not long enough. He may be being tortured as we speak."

"Riku, go outside and around to the back of the building," Axel snapped, startling his friend out of his thoughts. "Kairi will be there. I need you to get her out of here."

"Axel, I don't think it's a good idea to-"

"Just go," he begged, hating the desperate crack in his voice. "Please..."

Riku looked at him uneasily for a moment. Axel knew his friend didn't trust this. Hell, he didn't trust it, but he had to play this game. The man finally nodded, and jogged back the way they had come.

"Okay. He's on his way."

"Good. What floor are you on?" Axel told him, then looked for doors along the hall, reading off numbers he came across.

"Where do I go?"

"You're not far, actually. Just follow the hallway until you reach a fork. When you find it, take a left."

Axel gave an affirming grunt, sprinting down the hall. He rounded the corner and kept going.

"Done. What next?" he panted.

"Look for the CEO's office at the end of this hall. You should see it labeled on the plate."

"Right."

Finding the door at last, he turned the knob and pushed the door open wide. It slammed against the wall as he rushed in, and just as he was about to call for Roxas, something hit him hard on the head.

Groaning and just a little dizzy, he staggered to the side. He heard a soft gasp through the pain and fog of his now throbbing head.

"Axel!"

He almost fell over as a weight slammed into him, clutching his arm tightly. The redhead looked down through the haze and found two wide, worried blue eyes watching him.

"Oh God, I'm sorry! I thought you were- Are you okay? I didn't mean to hit so hard, but I- mph!"

In the midst regaining his senses, Axel sealed the younger man's lips with a deep kiss. He still felt Roxas trying to speak, still hurrying to apologize, but soon the blonde stopped, just wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

Axel broke the kiss first, leaning back and rubbing his sore head.

"Owww...Roxas, are you alright? Are you hurt?" He grew worried as he looked the smaller man over, finding a dark bruise beneath his right eye and some swelling on his right cheek. There was evidence of other bruises and cuts all over him, and his clothes were slightly rumpled.

Roxas's eyes began to cloud with unshed tears, and he chuckled awkwardly as he hugged the redhead tighter.

"I'm fine. Saix attacked me, but I-"

"Wait, Saix?! As in Zexion's psycho cousin, Saix?!" Roxas nodded. Why would he do this? Was he insane?!

Axel glared around the room. "That son of a bitch! Where is he?! I'll rip that bastard a-!"

The blonde grabbed his arm and pointed at the floor. Saix was lying on the floor a foot away, a small trickled of blood running down his forehead.

"What...happened here?" Axel asked, amazed. His curiosity put his rage on the back burner, it seemed. Roxas blushed a little, wiping his eyes.

"He tried to rape me, but I managed to catch him in the chest. He hit the wall hard and blacked out, I think, but once I cut myself loose, I hit him a few more times. Just to, you know, be sure..."

The redhead laughed a little, relieved beyond words. Roxas yelped a little as he was squeezed and crushed in the older man's embrace.

"I was so afraid I was going to lose you." How many times were they going to be torn apart? How much more did they have to suffer?

"Really, Axel, I'm fine." Roxas stepped back then, out of his hold, and looked at him seriously. "We have to get out of here now. We have to find Kairi."

"Let me see." Pulling out his phone, Axel saw his service fading in and out. After a minute, it seemed to work again, and he saw he'd received a text. "Riku's got her. Thank God..."

The smaller man smiled. "I'm so happy you're here...I was worried you wouldn't find me."

"Believe me, kid, that worried me too. But it looks like you handled things well on your own." He swept a hand indicating the unconscious Saix.

Roxas shivered. "Maybe so, but I don't want to have to do that ever again." The redhead rubbed his arm comfortingly.

"You won't have to. Sora is calling the police anytime now. We can have this bastard put away where he'll never hurt anyone again." Axel looked thoughtful as he finished, wondering if they should subdue Saix so he couldn't run away. But Roxas's bindings were cut and useless and nothing else in the room would do the trick securely, so he scrapped the idea. The man was knocked out anyways.

Roxas straightened his clothes and rubbed the red, irritated skin on his wrists.

"Let's go home now. I want to leave this awful place."

"Amen." Axel took his hand and started to lead them toward the door. They were out and halfway down the hall when a soft but deadly click sounded behind them.

"Going somewhere?"

Gritting his teeth, Axel reluctantly let his hand slip out of Roxas's, raising them defensively as he turned. Sure enough, Saix was there, one hand wiping the blood from his face while the other held a handgun trained on them.

Instantly the blonde moved between Axel and Saix. "I won't let you hurt him!"

"Go ahead and make my day," the blue-haired man replied, finger resting gently on the trigger. "Once I get rid of you, there won't be anything stopping Axel from coming back to me."

"What?! Is that what this shit is all about?!" Axel roared, pushing Roxas behind him. "I thought I made it clear, asshole! I don't want you! I didn't then and not now, after all the shit you pulled!"

The man rolled his eyes.

"Don't kid yourself, Axel. You spent years searching for what you thought you wanted, sleeping with a different girl or guy every week, when you knew right where it was all along. You tried to find someone who could give you what I could, but you couldn't, could you?"

"That's not true! You screwed me up, you piece of shit! I trusted you, and you took advantage of me! You never really cared, you just wanted to keep me all to yourself like a bratty, selfish asshole!"

Roxas looked at him worriedly. Even as he stood his ground, the redhead was shaking, trembling with rage.

"I finally found a good place in my life. I have the best boyfriend ever, the sweetest, smartest daughter I could have ever asked for. What do you have now, Saix? You're just a miserable, selfish prick who lives in his own deluded fantasy world and doesn't give a shit about anyone else!"

"Are you quite finished?" Saix replied with a yawn. Axel just scowled at him.

"I've said all I care to say to someone like you. Roxas and I are leaving." Careful to keep the blonde in front of him, out of the line of fire, he urged Roxas to keep walking down the hall. The younger man looked unsure at first, but Axel urged him on, taking his hand and squeezing it comfortingly.

"I don't think so." A shot. A bullet grazed past the redhead's cheek, severing a few loose strands of hair. "I own you. I always have. Now get over here like the good little bitch you are, or the next shot goes through his stupid face."

"Not a chance."

"Axel, do as he says," Roxas urged, grabbing both hands tightly in his. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Yes, Axel, do as I say." Saix twirled the gun in his hand, cocking his other hand on his hip. "Stop running away like a child."

The redhead turned to him, glaring.

"I'm not running away. And I know that the second I comply, you're just going to shoot him anyway."

The man shrugged. "True enough. But if you don't make a move soon, one of you is getting shot. I don't mind damaged goods."

Axel snarled, but he paused when Roxas touched his arm. No matter what he did, his lover could easily be hurt.

"Let Roxas leave. I'll do whatever you want if you just let him go."

"No. Axel, I won't leave you here." The redhead ignored him, his glare meeting Saix's cold, calculating gaze. The other man smiled viciously.

"Fine. You have a deal. Let him call the police even. We will be gone long before anyone could-"

His words were cutoff by the sound of heavy footsteps. Many of them. Axel saw the look on Saix's face turn angry and knew what it meant. The police were here!

The blue-haired man growled, turning the gun back on them and firing two shots. Everything seemed to slow down then. Roxas grabbed his arm and jerked them both to the ground, ducking just as the bullets whizzed overhead. The very next second, a man bellowed. "Put the gun down and your hands in the air!"

"Like hell!" Saix shouted, pointing the gun at the floor. He fired just as an officer snagged him in the arm, sending the speeding bullet slightly off course. It narrowly missed Roxas by an inch, embedding itself in the floor right beside him.

With the gun out of Saix's hand, the officers swarmed in, restraining him. Two men carted him off, struggling and cursing, while the rest approached Axel and Roxas.

"Are you folks okay?"

"Y-yeah. We're fine." Roxas got up first, helping his boyfriend shakily to his feet.

"Is it true that you were taken and held against your will?"

"Yes, it's true." Axel stood silently by, calming his erratic heartbeat while his lover answered the officer's questions.

"We need to file all of this in the report. Would you two mind accompanying us down to the station?"

"Can we make it quick? Maybe pick up a little later?" Roxas asked, looking sidelong at Axel. "It's been a long day, and I think we both need some time to recover."

"Not a problem. Your daughter is outside waiting with the others."

Slipping an arm under Axel's, Roxas looked at him encouragingly and walked him out. The redhead slowly relaxed his arm around the other man's shoulders, but his hand clenched around his upper arm and refused to let go, even on the way home.


	32. Chapter 32

More stuff for AkuRoku Day 2013! Enjoy!

* * *

"Axel? Axel, are you alright?"

They were at home now, finally. By the time they had finished arrived home, Sora had burst in, hugging the life right out of Roxas. Though the brunet had nearly demanded that Roxas stay the night at their place, Riku had talked him out of it. They didn't need the extra drama.

So Sora and Riku went away, promising to call them in the morning when things had settled down. Roxas had agreed, but now he had to deal with a traumatized Kairi and an unresponsive Axel on his own. The older redhead was silent, eyes wide and fixated. The blonde had had to lead his boyfriend and daughter home, past a confused and speechless Reno, and into the room he shared with Axel. Kairi curled up in his arms and cried until she fell asleep, but Axel's state was far more worrying. He almost seemed catatonic.

Shifting Kairi to lie under the covers, Roxas moved to the edge of the bed where the older redhead sat, looking out at nothing.

"Axel, please talk to me." He laid his hand over the man's arm and squeezed gently. "You're scaring me. Please say something."

His boyfriend swallowed heavily, licking his lips a moment. That was the only noticeable change to his face.

"I can't believe him," he said hoarsely, sliding his other hand slowly up his arm, until he curled it over Roxas's. The skin was warm but clammy, and Axel seemed to be shaking slightly. "That bastard tried to shoot us."

"He's insane, Axel. There's nothing more to it than that."

"He..."The redhead trailed off slightly, looking haunted. "He messed with my head back then. It was pretty bad."

Roxas watched him sadly, wishing he knew what to say.

"He just did this to spite me. I know it. M-Maybe he was insane, all this time. It'd make sense, but...doing this..."

The blonde sighed. "How do you think I feel? That whole experience was terrifying." He shuddered, remembering the look on Kairi's face when they were forcibly separated. He'd been so afraid for her, even more than for himself. Looking over at his little girl now, Roxas hoped she would be alright. She was such a sweet, spunky kid, but experiences like this could really change people. At this point, he wasn't sure if she would need therapy, but until he could work like Axel, they wouldn't be able to afford it.

It nearly made him want to cry.

Axel looked over at him, an almost desperate look in his eyes.

"This is the second time I've almost lost you, you and Kairi both." Roxas let himself be pulled to the redhead's chest in a crushing hug. He could feel the still erratic beating of his heart, the mere memory of events making it wild with panic.

"I know," the younger man whispered back. His arms wrapped around Axel and returned the embrace, as he looked up into distant green eyes. "I know, but you need to calm down."

"How can I?" he breathed, sounding faintly indignant.

"The same way I have. None of us are dead, Axel. We made it out alive." Then the blonde lowered his head, staring sadly at his lap. "But there will still be scars. Just not the physical kind. We need to be strong together, for Kairi. I...can't do it all on my own."

The older man looked down at him, tears coming to his eyes.

"I don't want you to have to, but Roxas..." He sobbed, clutching Roxas to him even tighter than before. His voice cracked with emotion. "What if we hadn't made it? What if Kairi or you or both of you had died?!"

"But we didn't," he said weakly, trying to shake away his own tears as they formed.

"But who's to say there won't be a next time? What then?" A hand fisted in his hair, tugging his head up a little too harshly. Roxas winced, but met watery green eyes. "If I lost you, it would kill me. Literally. I couldn't go on living without you."

"That's what worries me," Roxas whimpered. "I would be heartbroken if anything happened to you, but I wouldn't stop living. I couldn't. You wouldn't want me to just give up, and I couldn't do that to Kairi, and Sora and Riku.

I used to be so sad and angry; I thought about dying a lot. I don't think I would have tried to hurt myself; I'm a coward, I don't like pain. But thinking about it so much, realizing that people did care for me, and depended on me, I just couldn't allow myself to do it. No matter how much it hurt."

Axel nodded.

"I'm sorry. I must sound so selfish-"

"No, Axel." Roxas took his face in his hands and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "I understand what you meant to say. But please don't think things like that." He sighed then. "Whether it's by time or some tragedy, I will die one day. We all will. But we should cherish each other and our time together, even if it turns out to be for only one day."

"Roxas..."

They stared into each other's eyes for a long time, silent and fearful but so very, very warm. As scared as he was by Axel's words, the devotion and love behind them touched him, and he couldn't help but smile, albeit sadly.

"I can't hate Saix completely, though. Even after all he did to you and to me, in a way, he brought us together."

Axel huffed. "I suppose that is true. But I could have done without the abuse and having my nerves shot to all hell."

Roxas chuckled a little. "Yeah. I could have done without it too." He ran a hand through Axel's hair, brushing his ear and tousling his feathery spikes. "By some miracle, we're all okay. Maybe someone is looking out for us."

"Yeah, maybe."

Their gazes met again, and for a few moments, Roxas just lost himself in his lover's eyes. They were so fiery and intense, so deep in thoughts, and with the way Axel bit his lips, clearly wondering something, the blonde thought he looked very cute that way. Stoic and handsome, but cute at the same time.

He really did adore Axel. He couldn't help it even if he'd wanted to. The man had even risked his life to try and save them.

Suddenly green eyes narrowed, and Axel nodded to himself before getting up and walking over to the desk. Roxas watched him curiously as he opened the drawer reserved for tax files and important papers, rummaging through it for a moment. He even growled a little, as whatever unseen paper he was searching for continued to elude him.

"Axel?"

The redhead did not answer him, but kept searching until he finally shut the drawer again. He came back over to the bed, clenching something small in his right fist.

"This may seem like a bad time, maybe like it's on a whim, but Roxas, I swear to you, right now, that this is the truth. I want to think more about what you said. It made me feel selfish about my words, but it also helped me to realize how much you mean to me." He knelt beside the bed, opening his palm to reveal a small, dusty velvet box. Roxas gasped, eyes growing misty all over again as Axel opened it, revealing a gold ring with a small, but beautiful diamond.

"This ring was my grandmother's. I know it isn't much, but I want to give it to you. And you don't have to decide right away!" Axel stammered quickly, shutting the box again and resting the hand on his knee. "Hell, I don't think we could afford even a small ceremony right now. Even if we wanted to. But I love you so much, Roxas. I know now that you are the one for me, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"A-Axel..." Roxas reached for the little box and Axel handed it over easily. The blonde opened it and gazed down at the little ring. "It's...beautiful."

Axel stretched up on his knees, pecking his startled lover on the lips. "So are you."

The younger man was so happy he started to bawl. Axel sat beside him again, kissing and holding him, whispering comforting words. And Roxas believed them. He still had doubts and fears. Who wouldn't? But they weren't as important anymore.

They would make this work. They were finally going to be a family.

After calming themselves quickly and quietly, Axel led him to the bathroom on the first floor, away from both Kairi and Reno. They made love in the shower that night, neither caring to really stifle their cries of ecstasy. The water kept it barely muffled enough.

It was an act of love, of catharsis; nursing wounded minds and hearts, but also expressing joy in their future together. Everything else could wait. All that mattered for now was that they would never be truly alone ever again.


	33. Chapter 33

I need more affection than you know...

_Roxas looked up from his book with defeat. _

_"Do I have to go?"_

_"No, but I really think you should." Sora huffed a sigh, closing the drawer he'd been rummaging in. "We're worried about you, Roxas."_

_"I'm trying..." It sounded weak even to him, but he had to protest a little, at least. His brother just couldn't see how hard he worked. _

_"I know, but school started a month ago, and I don't think I've seen you leave this room once, except to go to class." _

_"I go to the dining hall." The brunet rolled his eyes. _

_"Yeah. Eating is kind of a basic need. You know what I mean."_

_Roxas nodded quietly. Riku and Sora has all kinds of extracurriculars, and they went out partying on weekend nights. _

_But plenty of people weren't partiers or extroverts, and he was one of them. Was that really such a big deal?  
_

_"There was that fire drill that one time..."_

_An unwilling smile tugged at his brother's lips, and Roxas smiled a little back, pleased with himself._

_"Cute...But you should come with us, Rox. You don't have to drink or dance or talk to anyone if you don't want to, and I won't ask you to go ever again after this. Please, just give it a try?" _

_Then came the puppy eyes. Oh, how he hated the puppy eyes._

_"Fine," the younger brother grumbled, looking back into his textbook just as Sora did a cheer. "But you and Riku can't both disappear on me, okay?"_

_"Sure, sure." The brunet boy waved him off. "Finish that chapter and then pick something nice. We'll be out in the common room waiting for you, so don't take too long." _

_"Kay."  
_

_The door finally shut, and Sora's footsteps faded away, quickly replaced by hushed voices and a sigh. Roxas slid forward and face-planted into his book, groaning._

_"Why'd I let him talk me into this?"_

_. . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . . . . . __. . . . . . . . . . __. . . . _

_______________________Roxas was still pondering that question as he dressed. He pondered it in the common room, down the stairs, and out the door. _

_______________________But he pondered it most as his bubbly brother and his quietly upbeat boyfriend dragged him up to the apartment complex._

_______________________Sora and Riku were both dressed in nice, dark band t-shirts and skinny jeans. The brunet let his hair do its natural thing, spiking out to the top and sides, while his boyfriend pulled his hair back into a loose ponytail. Neither of them had said a word when he came downstairs earlier that evening, dressed in a plain black shirt, grey sweats, and a pair of ratty tennis shoes, his hair its usual bed-head chic. _

_______________________At the time, he was glad for their silence. Now, he wondered even more what they could have possibly been thinking._

_______________________The music was some loud electronica thing, practically pulsing from the speakers to the foundation of the building. Some students hung outside the building, chatting, a few making out, all of them dressed like his brother if not a little nicer. The girls went all out. They dressed in short dresses, heels and boots, and flashy jewelry. Their makeup was flawless, pristine even in the crappy external light. _

_______________________Everyone looked like they could have stepped right off the cover of a magazine._

_______________________Roxas felt himself flush, half in wonder and half embarrassment._

_______________________Inside __wasn't much different, though the music was a lot louder and echoed off the thin walls. _

_The blonde spotted a few girls from his classes sitting in the corner. Esmeralda, the girl with dark skin, green eyes, and black hair, had a fiery personality. She always replied to professors' with snark and wit, and he couldn't help but admire her. Beside her was Belle, a quiet but kind brunette that looked about a half as nervous and out of place as he did. She was studious in class, and whenever he spotted her from the cafeteria, she was sitting comfortably in the rose garden, her nose deep buried in fantasy books._

_Chatting with the two was Rapunzel. She was an exchange student from Germany; a bit ditzy and talkative, but still nice. _

_Not far from that group was a lone girl, standing off on her own. Roxas didn't know much about her, other than her name. The one time he had asked her, she'd said, "Megara. My friends call me Meg. At least they would if I had any friends."_

_She was witty like Esmeralda, but tended to be realistic, practical, and negative. He often heard more popular girls gossip about her in class. Particularly her reputation with boys. _

_There were plenty of new faces, but the blonde hadn't the slightest idea who to talk to. And he got the creeping, uncomfortable impression that some people were looking at him. Some whispering, some laughing..._

_Why had he come here?_

_Despite Sora and Riku's promise that one would stick by him, they inevitably broke away to go socialize with friends and teammates, smiling and waving at him apologetically. He cursed them quietly, but smiled all the same._

_Roxas was left alone, and despite his better judgment and usual commitment to sanity and control, he quickly found himself grabbing a shot of something burning. Anything to stave off the boredom, the awkwardness. The emptiness he felt._

_He coughed a bit as he drank, his eyes watering and throat practically screaming._

_"First time?"_

_Startled, he jumped as his head snapped to the side. There stood a tall upperclassman he didn't recognize; one with wild red hair, laughing green eyes, a very angular face, and two dark upside-down teardrop tattoos, one gracing each cheek just below his eyes. He wore tight-fitting black pants and a dark purple wife-beater._

_"Uh...y-yeah." Roxas would have slapped himself if he wasn't sure it would look weird. His throat still burned, but now he struggled to swallow for another reason._

_The older boy was very handsome._

_The redhead flashed him a debonair smile. "Next time, toss it back as quick as you can." He placed a hand on Roxas's, the one cupping the shot glass. "Speaking of which, can I grab you another?"_

_"N-No thank you," he replied, grateful all of the sudden for the dimmed lights. He could feel his face blushing hotly. "I don't want to get out of control." _

_"That's a shame," the redhead replied, as he took the glass from him and set it aside. "That's the whole point of these things."_

_The blonde smiled sheepishly. "It's my first party, and I'm not sure how many more I'll go to after this one."_

_"An even bigger shame!" the older boy exclaimed, a bit louder than he'd been before. He over-exaggerated his motions as he spoke, startling a laugh out of Roxas. "Well then, I guess I have no choice but to change your mind!"_

_Roxas blinked, his eyes widening as his hand was grasped. _

_"Oh no, really! You don't have t-ah!"_

_He was dragged quickly to the center of the room, just as a new song came on. A loud cheer rose through the room, and some of the people off to the sides put down their drinks, grabbed their partners, and followed the redhead's example. Girls laughed and whooped as they danced with their friends and dates, many of them dancing up close and personal._

_Once they reached their destination, the other boy let go of his hand and gestured to him with a giddy, heart-stopping smile. "Dance with me!"  
_

_"I can't!" the younger boy called back, almost shouting as someone upped the volume to near ear-shattering levels. "I don't know how!"_

_"Just feel the music, and move! Come on! Show me what you've got!" _

_Hesitantly, Roxas did his best to mimic the redhead, bumping and swaying and shaking his hips. He felt so awkward and stiff, but after the next few songs, he was feeling the alcohol fuzzing up his brain, and it made his movements more fluid, looser. _

_"Now you're getting it!" the redhead cheered._

_They danced quite a bit more, sometimes goofy and silly, and other times close and intimately. It gave Roxas a thrill he had never felt before. He could feel the music pounding through him, moving him and lifting his spirit. How had he never felt something like this before?_

_Had Sora and Riku been on to something after all?_

_The tall, gorgeous redhead stayed with him the whole time, laughing and cheering. It was always in good humor, and made the younger boy blush and smile. He was definitely flirting, too; throwing in a few cheesy lines at first, then more seductive ones as the evening progressed. Somehow, Roxas didn't really mind. _

_At least the guy wasn't crude or oppressive. He might have seemed the type, at first, but his company was very nice. Having someone to talk to was good._

_"You're adorable," he said, during one song where they were pressed close together. It wouldn't have seemed too suggestive to most, but to the blonde, it was right on that border between okay and uncomfortable. _

_"The cutest boy here, bar none."_

_"Th-Thank you," Roxas replied shyly. "You're very cute yourself."_

_"Oh?" he said with a smirk. "How so?"_

_"Well, you have pretty hair..."_

_"All natural, you know." His smirk grew wider._

_"...and your eyes are so green, like cut emeralds. So vibrant and expressive..."_

_"That's damn near poetic. You flatter me."_

_"You're very funny. Well-spoken, too..."_

_"You sound like a father evaluating his daughter's new boyfriend."_

_The blonde giggled a little. He'd had one more shot, despite himself, and it made everything so warm and funny. _

_"Sorry. I'm weird. I've just never met someone so handsome and charming."_

_The redhead ruffled his hair. "And I've never met someone as cute as you. I'll bet you just beat girls and guys off with a stick, don't you?"_

_His blushed deepened. "I don't know about that..."_

_As they shifted in and out of the cluster of people, the older boy grabbed a few loose drinks and downed them. Roxas didn't drink after that second shot, politely waving away the other ones offered to him, but it was pretty clear from his goofy smile that he was a total lightweight and the few things he'd had were working some magic. _

_He was pretty deep in the buzzed category, and his dancer partner was worse, though he didn't look it as much._

_"So, where's your boyfriend?" The redhead made a show of looking around the room. "Surely a guy as sweet and cute as you is taken?"_

_Roxas shook his head and laughed. "Oh no, I'm not with anyone. My brother dragged me along and then ditched me, so I'm here solo." _

_"What an ass. He should be here to protect you. Keep the pervs and jerkoffs away."_

_Earlier, Roxas might have questioned if such a guy was dancing with him in that moment. Right now, though, he couldn't have cared less. _

_Perverts were for the real world. Problems too. This world was like a dream. A small, wonderful, apartment-sized dream... _

_"What about you?" the blonde asked then, genuinely curious and bolder than he'd ever been before. "Do you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend?"_

_The older boy shrugged a little. "Not right now, really. I had one before, but she wasn't my type and I wasn't really hers. Wouldn't have worked out."_

_"Oh, I see. I'm sorry." Roxas looked down sadly. He didn't want to spoil a nice evening by being too pushy or bringing up old wounds. Maybe he'd stepped too far..._

_A gentle hand cupped his chin and tilted his face upwards. Green eyes met his blue, totally calm. _

_"No need to apologize, blondie. It's in the past now. Wasn't that big a deal anyway."_

_He smiled. "That's good. I wouldn't want to be a-"_

_And suddenly, soft lips were pressed against his. _

_For a split second, Roxas fought back an unpleasant memory he'd buried deep inside. But it was quickly shoved away by a spark that shot through him, hotter and faster than lightning. _

_The redhead stepped back, and Roxas could only gape at him, feeling more dazed than before. _

_"Sorry." The older boy scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "That was uncalled for, wasn't it?...You're really cute, though."_

_The blonde stepped closer and kissed him back. _

_It was still chaste, but that spark...dear god, that wonderful spark. Roxas had never felt anything like it before. _

_When they pulled apart again, their gazes met instantly. _

_"Come with me?"_

_He nodded, taking the redhead's hand and following him. _

_He followed him him out the door, and down the street. Texting Sora or Riku never once crossed his mind. That horrible memory was vaguely there, but less immediate. _

_The night spoke to him, and it pushed his fears away. It enflamed his courage, even when they reached a strange apartment, a strange bedroom._

_Kiss after burning kiss, each one deeper and more passionate than the last. Never having kissed before, Roxas was awkward at first, but he almost didn't care. The other boy was wild and dominating now, and the tingling spark he'd felt before overpowered him now, forced him to submit. He felt giddy and dizzy and so damn loved._

_They lost their clothes in a whirlwind and tumbled onto the bed tangled together. When his lover spoke in hushed, hurried tones, gentle but excited, eager to own him, he did not flinch away. He barely hesitated. _

_Roxas had never felt more alive._


	34. Chapter 34

Happy belated AkuRoku Day 2014! Sorry for the delay. Here, have some cookies.

*runs away flailing

* * *

Axel sent Sora a text three weeks later.

Things were finally settling down after the whole Saix incident. Roxas was out doing a job interview, after having dropped Kairi off for her therapist appointment. At first, she'd be nervous to go; even more so when she caught sight of the man she would be working with. Dr. Vexen Beaumont had a cold, dry exterior at times, but he was calm and collected and quickly melted when he worked with children, his specific clientele.

After one session, the little girl was smiling more frequently. They were small smiles, but smiles nonetheless, and her parents were joyfully relieved.

They worried less about her starting school in the not-too-distant future.

Reno insisted on spotting them the money while they go everything together, and none of their protests seemed to dissuade him. He called it "grandpa's duty."

Roxas was looking into an internship in journalism. It wouldn't pay much, at first, and it was only for a few months, but it would get his foot in the door of the industry. In the meantime, he'd vowed to take up creative writing to hone his skills and deal with stress, although he hadn't started _that_ yet. He still didn't want to talk to anyone about his new or old wounds besides Axel, but the redhead was sure that the hobby the blonde had suggested would help a lot. Maybe he could open up more to Sora when he was ready.

Speaking of his future brother-in-law...

_Burn, baby, burn! Disco inferno! Burn, baby, burn!_

Axel fished his phone out of his pocket again, having only placed it there thirty seconds ago, and looked at the caller id.

'That was fast...' he thought as he answered, pressing the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"The fuck is wrong with you, Axel?" The redhead blinked, startled for a second, then relaxed as he heard the exasperated chuckle on the other end. "Sending that kind of news over text? You motherfucker!"

"It's because I'm out in public right now, Mr. Loudmoth." He was satisfied by the 'eep!' he received at that. "Such language, too. Whatever would Papa Bear Cloud think of you, if he could see you now?"

A snort. "Please. He'd have beaten you to a bloody pulp long ago."

Axel barked a laugh, earning more glares and stares from his fellow train riders. He was sure it was the truth.

"Got me there."

"So when did you pop the question? I get the sneaking suspicion you're telling me way after the fact."

"Got me again. I don't feel like divulging the exact date, but yeah, it was a ways back."

"And he said yes?"

The redhead scratched his head, shifting as the train jostled him going around a turn. "Yeah, but we agreed to keep the engagement date pending for a while."

"That's definitely for the best. And if your guys' wedding upstaged mine, I'd have to kill you."

"You know, you're a lot less sweet and happy-go-lucky than people take you for."

Sora chuckled again, replying in a mock Bugs Bunny voice, "They don't know me very well, do they?"

They chatted for a while until Axel reached his destination. He stepped off the train into the mid morning sun, wincing and shielding his eyes with his free hand.

"Hey Sor, can I call you back in a bit? I'm actually almost there now."

"...you're really going to do this, huh?"

He nodded, navigating his way out the gate and into the throngs of Saturday strollers.

"I have to. I know I'd regret not going."

A sigh. "Okay, man. If you really need it."

"I do. Will you keep this to yourself?"

"Well, me and Riku, but yeah. It won't go beyond us."

Axel snorted. "Thanks. Text me when Roxas gets there, and then you guys have fun."

The redhead quickly reached the building he was looking for. Cold, sleek metal with very few windows. It had a lot of personality in its lack of personality.

"Well, here goes."

He walked in and spoke with the person at the front desk. After half an hour of twiddling his thumbs and browsing social media, the chief of police arrived. Despite the obvious misgivings, the man led him down a couple hallways, then further down into the building. It got progressively dark, emptier, and more foreboding, but Axel steeled his gut and walked without a shred of hesitation.

'There's nothing to be scared of, after all,' he thought, as a door opened to reveal a room separated by a wall of bars. Inside, a man in grey clothes sat slumped against the far wall, so pale and thin that he could have been dead.

'Nothing to be scared of at all.'

Today was the last day before they moved him. He was off to court, then, with luck, the highest security prison the state could build. Axel didn't want the bastard to die. Especially not at someone else's hands.

Though he was loathe to admit it, Riku had made a good point. Saix deserved to rot away for the rest of his life, alone, whether he was man enough to feel guilty or not. Death was too kind a sentence for what he'd done.

Soon enough, Axel knew that he and his family would be called in to testify. He didn't want to be afraid to face this man then, but more than that, he needed to see him. To face him and talk to him once more, before the storm, and close a door in his heart that he'd unwittingly left open for so long.

The guards spat a few warnings his way, then returned to their solemn vigil. A blue-haired head lifted as the young man approached the cell, and he laughed harshly.

"I knew you couldn't stay away."

Axel crossed his arms and glared at him, chanting a solid mantra in his head.

'Stay cool. Be cool.'

Golden eyes bore into him, and he struggled not to shiver.

"I came to tell you that I forgive you, Saix. You're a sick man, and I forgive you, but I won't forget what you've done." The other man's face morphed into a vicious frown.

"Bullshit, Flynn. You think I can't see into that head of yours?" He spat. "Some shrink fed you that line, didn't they?"

"No. This is me telling you to fuck off as nicely as possible."

Saix grinned. It was creepy how quickly his moods seemed to change. Axel found himself wondering in the way, way back of his mind how unhinged his ex-friend really was at this point.

"Only if I can fuck off in that sweet ass of yours."

Axel bit down on his temper as hard as he could, gritting his teeth a bit in the process.

After a moment, he sighed and said, "I forgive you, but I swear, if you or any of yours come near my family again, I will kill you."

"Sir, stop antagonizing the prisoner," one of the guards said curtly, giving the free man a strictly-business look.

"Keep your prisoner in line so I don't have to," he retorted, his tone teetering on waspish. "I'm the victim here, anyway. You should be looking out for me."

"The prisoner is in our custody and is our responsibility. Unless he poses a direct threat to your person or mental state, he is to remain untouched."

"Listen to the nice man, Axel, and be gentle." The blue-haired man laughed harshly again, eyeing him up and down in a way that made Axel's skin crawl. "Whether you like it or not, you'll always be mine."

Hands clenched painfully into fists at his sides. "I was never yours, and I will never be yours. Goodbye, Saix." He turned swiftly, walking up to the unhelpful guard from before with a soft, ground out, "I'm finished here."

"My love never ends, Axel." The other man began slinking forward, grabbing the bars and grinning with feral intensity. He had the look of a desperate, crazed druggie, reaching out with both arms. "I'll come for you, but until then, let me haunt your dreams at night."

"Shut up. You're going away forever."

"Se my face when you hold him. Feel me when he takes you up the ass." Saix chuckled. "Unless he's too small for that."

"Shut up!" Axel snarled, throwing his arms down. "Shut the fucking fuck up, you piece of shit!"

_Burn, baby, burn! Disco inferno! Burn, baby, burn!_

Well, if his face wasn't burning by now...

"No cellphones are supposed to enter this room!" the guard snapped, taking a step toward Axel.

"I swear I turned it off!" he replied hastily, digging it out of his pocket and almost dropping his wallet. "How can I even have signal down here?"

He was quickly ushered out of the room, all the while cutting the caller off and grimacing that that visit had not gone nearly as well as he'd planned.

'Cool and composed, my ass. I fell right into that bastard's trap.'

He'd figured the man was crazy and hopeless, but he thought he could handle it. He'd needed to come here and see him, without Roxas, so that he could reaffirm what a pitiful mess Saix was, and move on with his life. The redhead needed to be strong, to face both demons; the one sitting before him, beaten and mad, and the one he'd built up in his head, that stood towering over him like a colossal tidal wave.

Saix was just a man. He'd always been just a man; a stupid, thoughtless, douchebag of a man, who only cared to get what he wanted. Axel knew that, even if it was just in the back of his mind. Always.

As he hurried outside the building, the redhead sat down on the steps and pressed a hand over his face.

Like it or not, he'd cracked in front of him. Even if it was just for a moment, Saix saw how full of shit he really was, and he couldn't take it back.

But maybe that didn't matter, Axel decided, staring at the dark, fuzzy lines on his palm. Saix would probably always think that he mattered to Axel, no matter what anyone said. He probably didn't care if he was right or wrong. No matter what had happened back there, he'd have been just as convinced of his thoughts as before.

There was no way to 'let Saix win,' because in the end, he'd lost.

_Burn, baby, burn! Disco inferno! Burn, baby, burn!_

Axel jumped at the sound of his ringtone, then cursed as he answered. The id screen told him who it was, and he immediately guessed it'd been the same caller as before.

"Axel!"

"Sora, what the hell? I said text me when Roxas-"

"Axel, shut up and listen to me, okay?" His tone was a bit strained, as if he were focusing on several things at once, and there was a soft, indiscernible muttering the redhead could hear in the background. "We need you to pick up Kairi when her session is over, then meet us at the doctor's. You know the one, right?"

He blinked. "The doctor's? No, I don't know which one you're talking about. What's going on?" he demanded, worry clenching in gut with an icy grip. "Can you put Riku on the phone?"

"Can't. Riku is carrying Roxas right now," he said hurriedly, then swore at something Axel couldn't hear.

The man jumped to his feet, hurrying down the steps and across the street with nothing but adrenaline to guide him. He almost forgot which way the train was.

"Why? What happened to him? Is he alright?!"

"A passenger on the train he was coming home on helped him to the house. Apparently, he threw up twice and nearly passed out. He keeps saying he's fine, but he's all pale and can barely stand on his own, so we're taking him to go get looked at." After more mumbling, he heard Sora snap, "Roxas, stop it!"

"Will he say what happened?! Is it poison?!" Axel's first instinct was to suspect Saix's cohort, who had vanished after passing Kairi off to Riku all those weeks ago. Or maybe it was some other person he'd worked with or bribed. After all, why would the first guy get his partner arrested, then come after his enemies later?

"I can't say for sure, and he's insisting that nothing happen- Damn it, Roxas! You are not fine! Riku, make him stop! I'm trying to talk to Axel!"

"Can you give me the address? I'll ask Dr. Vexen to keep Kairi and just come right there!"

Sora sighed on the other end. "Alright. That might be best."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kairi sat on the comfy blue couch laxly, still clutching Neo's arm in one hand. She refused to leave him at home, and Dr. Vexen had encouraged whatever made her feel the most comfortable.

She liked Dr. Vexen a lot, she decided by the end of the session. He was surprisingly good with puppets, and his voice was very soothing to listen to. Cool, smooth, but not slimy. His smile was kind of weird, but he could make her laugh with it, and with his dry words and jokes. He was patient and nice, and the "thought exercises," as he called them, weren't very hard or scary. She still wasn't sure what they meant, but she did feel a bit better after them. Something about him sort of reminded her of Xemnas, in a way. Not perfectly, but they both acted a lot less scary than they looked at first.

Dr. Vexen said it was okay to be scared, but also that what had happened to her and her dads wasn't normal. And normal things happened more than the not normal ones. He also said that her dads loved her very much, and wanted her to feel confident talking to them about how she felt, but that when school started up, she should try not to talk about it so much. Other kids might not understand, or they could be mean without meaning to.

'Adults can be so mean too,' she thought, thinking of Saix and shuddering a little. No kid could be as mean as that, even if they tried.

"We're almost through," he said, looking at the clock and jotting a few more words down on his notepad. "It appears your parents haven't arrived yet. Is there anything else you'd like to talk about, Kairi?"

She looked down at her lap. "Xemnas."

"You told me that he was a man who worked for Saix?"

She nodded. "He protected me. He never let Saix touch me, even when he wanted to hit me for crying so much."

"Was he the only other person there?"

"Yes. I was scared of him sometimes."

"Why is that?"

She thought for a moment. "Just because."

"It must have been very confusing and frightening to be there in the first place. Not knowing what he was going to do to you or your father."

"He said..." She swallowed heavily, then focused on breathing deeply, in and out. Just like he told her. "H-He was going to kill Daddy."

"Xemnas did?"

The girl shook her head emphatically. "Saix did. Xemnas didn't hurt me, but he didn't keep Saix from hurting Daddy."

Vexen pushed his glasses up his nose. "And how does that make you feel?"

Kairi pulled Neo into her arms and hugged him, looking up at the man through dark lashes and even darker bangs.

"I don't know."

"Do you feel angry at him?"

"...A little."

"But you like that he was kind to you, and saved you both?"

She nodded again.

"He said he didn't want to hurt me."

"But he did want to hurt your father."

"...I don't...think so, but..."

"It's alright, Kairi," Dr. Vexen said kindly, setting his notepad beside him on the arm of the chair. "People do things for a variety of reasons, and sometimes actions and reason seem to contradict. It's almost impossible to know his true motive, but from what you've told me, I highly doubt he bore any ill will towards your family."

"Then why?" When the man shook his head, she looked down again. "I don't hate him, but..."

"But you don't forgive him."

The little redhead nodded, squeezing her doll tightly and leaning back further into the couch.

"Forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting, Kairi. Nor does it mean saying that the actions that hurt you are okay. But I have seen so many people who live life with bitterness in their hearts, ruled by horrible past experiences." He shook his head. "They have every right to be angry, but that anger has no direction, and it just eats them up inside. They continue to be hurt afresh, every day, by things that happened long ago. The people who have hurt them may acknowledge their mistakes, or they may never, but the victims feel hollowness at best, and pain at worst."

"So...So I should forgive him?"

"That's up to you, dear. Forgiveness is a choice everyone must make at some point." He pushed his glasses up his nose again. "Personally, I think it takes a a very strong person to live with abuse and trauma. Life is very hard. However, it takes an even stronger person to distance themselves; to grow and learn, and continue to live in this sometimes harsh, unforgiving world. The strongest person of all takes steps to overcome their pain and fears, and finds happiness-"

Suddenly, the office phone began to ring.

Vexen blinked, standing up straight and looking mortified.

"Oh dear. Please, excuse me for a moment, Kairi." He shuffled over and answered, speaking softly.

"Dr. Beaumont's office. I'm in the middle of a...Oh, Mr. Strife? I was wondering where you were...No, I don't have another appointment until 6 o'clock..."

"Is that Uncle So-So?" Kairi asked, jumping up and running over to her therapist. She tugged on the sleeve of his shirt. "Where are he and Daddy?"

"One moment, Kairi," he replied quietly, turning back to the phone and curling the cord around his finger. "What's that?...Oh...Oh my. Is he alright?..." he asked, his eyes wide. He looked down at Kairi, thinking deeply as he talked. "...Oh...Yes, yes, I can keep an eye on Kairi until Mr. Flynn gets here..."

Kairi fidgeted next to him as he talked more. She couldn't quite hear her uncle on the other end, but his voice sounded...what did it sound like? Worried? Excited?

"What's going on?" she demanded again, repeatedly, louder and louder. "So-So?"

"In a minute, dear. I promise."

But it wasn't a minute. It was more like ten. Dr. Vexen asked a few questions that confused her, then finally asked, "Is it really appropriate for me to tell her?"

Sora said something, and the man chuckled. "I suppose you have a point...Alright, I'll do my best...Yes, I'll keep an ear out for his call."

Vexen finally hung up the phone, and Kairi bounced in place. "What? What is it? What?!"

"Something unexpected has come up," he replied, watching her with eyes both soft and scrutinizing. "I'll tell you, but only if you discuss it openly and honestly with me now, and with your parents as soon as they pick you up."

"Okay! Just tell me!" she said, crossing her arms and pouting at him.

He chuckled again, then got down on his knees so he was more on her level.

"Kairi...How would you feel about a little brother or sister?"


	35. Chapter 35

"Roxas!"

Axel burst into the room, rushing right past Sora and Riku, who exchanged glances worriedly. The redhead practically slid to the foot of the examining table, grabbing Roxas's hands tightly in his and gasping for breath.

Just outside, there was chatter, drowning out the meek call of a nurse that Axel had brushed past, ignoring.

"Rox!"

"Axel, calm down!" the young man said, a tired smile stretching across his pale face. He chuckled a little. "Did you run all the way here?"

"Of course I did! I didn't know what to think! Oh, Roxas, you fucking idiot!" Axel pulled the blonde close so that his face was smushed into his chest, wrapping his arms around him and squeezing with desperate tightness as he himself panted for breath. "You have got to stop doing this to me!"

"Um, Axel? I think you're crushing him," Riku said carefully, pointing to the pronounced squirming and muffled shouts.

"I don't care!" he replied, running a hand through Roxas's hair as he looked at his friends indignantly. "He can't just keep putting me through heart attacks like this! I love him, but fair is fair!"

"No, seriously, Axel. You really shouldn't be crushing him," Sora said firmly, walking over calmly and pulling his little brother back out of the redhead's grip. Axel resisted for a second, then let go as he heard a loud gasp and muttered curses, looking up and meeting irritable blue eyes.

"I'm not trying to torture you, you know," Roxas wheezed, giving his lover a solid punch on the arm. "Asshole."

"What's going on here?" Coming down from the high of a high-speed sprint to this office, Axel really just wanted to get to the point. He'd only been half-joking about getting dicked around by Roxas and his family, even if he knew it wasn't always their fault. "Roxas, please just tell me what's wrong."

"Do you want us to leave?" Sora asked softly, looking down at his brother.

Roxas hesitated a moment, then nodded, turning to meet Axel's gaze as Sora gathered his boyfriend and ushered them both out into the hall.

"Axel...I..." The blonde hooked his fingers together just above his lap and looked down at them. "I have something to tell you."

"No shit," his lover replied, pressing his face into Roxas's knees and groaning tiredly. "Roxas, please just tell me."

"But..." That gentle voice held a sudden touch of fear. Axel recognized the tremor and sound from the first morning he spent with the blonde. "You'll be-"

"I'll be what?" He looked up then. "Because I'm telling you now that I'm fine, no matter what."

"You'll be angry..."

Axel blinked. "Why the hell would I be angry?"

"Because I..." Roxas looked down again. "I wasn't careful..."

"What do you mean you were...?" The older man froze, struck by a sudden thought. "Roxas, are you pregnant?!"

The blonde looked down, not quite flinching but decidedly ashamed.

Axel just gaped at him for a moment, then laughed breathlessly.

"That's wonderful."

Roxas's head snapped up, looking into his eyes with disbelieving blue.

"You...you really think so? But-?"

He was silenced for a second when his lover rose quickly to his feet and scooped him up into the air.

"But nothing, you fucking idiot! This is wonderful!" He spun the blonde around repeatedly, chuckling at his yelps and giggles. "Another baby! I can't believe it!"

"S-So you're really not mad?" Rpxas asked shakily when he was finally set down. He rubbed his eyes. "I thought that we wouldn't have the money to support another one..."

"Then I'll work extra hard," Axel said happily, leaning down and kissing him. "I'll take out a loan or two, whatever I have to do. A car can wait a few years...we'll make this work, Roxy."

"Still, I'm sor-"

"No!" The redhead covered his mouth quickly, bending slightly so he could look Roxas right in the eye.

"Do NOT apologize for giving us another baby. For one, it's half my fault anyway. For another, I have a chance to see a child of mine being born." He smiled widely then, leaning closer. "No disrespect to Kairi, of course. I love her so much, and she'll need our help understanding all this shit that's going down. I don't want her getting more upset...But I'll get to be a part of this baby's life from the very start. And I can be there to help you through this time...that's probably what I regret the most about before."

"Axel..." Blue eyes shimmered with gathering tears, but when Axel pulled his hand away, the smile on Roxas's face was pure sunshine.

Their lips met passionately as Roxas threw his arms around Axel's neck and Axel lifted him back into the air.

* * *

"Awwwww...look," Sora whispered, pointing through the small glass window on the door. "Axel's taking the news well after all."

"That's good," Riku said. "Now all that's left is to worry about Kairi."

The brunet nodded. Vaguely, he remembered being confused and jealous when his father and mother had told him he was getting a little brother. Cloud often laughed, recounting him with a few stories when he was older. How he'd tried to convince Roxas that the glass back door was magic, and that he could get through it if he ran full on at it and believed with all his heart. How he'd concocted a soup for Roxas to try, which consisted of boiled mud, weeds from the garden, and a dead cicada resting at the bottom.

How he would scramble out of the baths they used to share, laughing that he'd peed and that Roxas was sitting in it.

The stories made him smile. He'd been pretty impish before their family had separated.

With girls, it would have to be different. Especially given what Kairi had just gone through.

"Maybe you should talk to her sometime," his boyfriend added, as they turned and walked back down the hall, waving to the nurses that everything was okay.

"Yeah..." He shuffled his feet a bit. "So...about finding our new place..."

Riku sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. We've been dragging our feet on picking the damn thing. But I figured you'd be really caught up in Roxas's news."

"I am. It's just...I feel like things have been kinda...stalling...getting back to normal and all. Our wedding got pushed back and pushed back, and then the house thing...and now Roxas is having a new baby." He looked down at his shoes with a blush. "It sounds bad, I know, but I'm kind of...jealous of him."

Riku blinked, cutting his forming irritable thoughts short. "Why?"

"Everything has gone bad for Roxas...but in a way, it's all kind of just...righted itself. Despite what's happened, he's been very lucky, and he and Axel are doing really well.

I know we're gonna get a new place and get married, and someday, maybe we'll have kids too. Or a pet at least?" He looked up pleadingly at his boyfriend, who couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Of course, Sor."

He nodded. "Right. It's just...well...it feels like it's taking a while for us. I know deep down that everything is good and we're doing our best. I guess I'm just impatient for things to pick up again. Impatient to get to where Roxas has kind of stumbled with Axel." He looked up again, this time embarrassed. "Sorry. Do I sound like an asshole?"

Riku shook his head with a soft smile, ruffling the brunet's hair.

"I get what you mean. And I really am trying..."

Sora nodded again. "I know."

They sat on a bench in the waiting room for a moment, listening to the sick coughs and occasional children arguing with parents and each other. Their hands fit together perfectly, and Riku gave him a comforting squeeze.

"Should we go on a run this week?" Sora asked after a few moments. "Check out the places we highlighted?"

"Sure," Riku whispered back. "We're partial to houses, but some of the apartments around Mickey Court looked pretty nice, right?"

"Yeah. And honestly, Riku, as long as we're together, I don't mind where we live."

The older man squeezed his hand again and chuckled. "Me too. But it still is nice to live close to work."

"Ass." Sora purposefully kept his voice down, and ignored the few glares from the people who had heard him.

"Hey, it's the sentiment that counts."


End file.
